Trail Conference to Join Lawsuit to Protect Palisades Ridgeline

Will the top of the Palisades north of the George Washington Bridge bristle with new, tall buildings?

Not if a lawsuit brought by the New Jersey State Federation of Women’s Clubs (NJSFWC), Scenic Hudson, and two Trail Conference members against the Borough of Englewood Cliffs, NJ, is successful. The Trail Conference board has voted to join the suit.

The borough amended its zoning code in October 2012 to permit construction of buildings 150 feet  in height in an area along the Palisades Interstate Park. The height limit was previously 35 feet. The change was prompted by a proposal to build a new,  145 foot-tall headquarters for LG Electronics earlier in the year. The challenge to the spot-zoning change cites the detrimental impact of the change on the “iconic and environmentally sensitive Palisades.”

NJSFWC has a history of protecting the Palisades that goes back to 1896, when it successfully ended widespread quarrying of the Palisades area. Scenic Hudson, an open space preservation group founded by the Trail Conference during the fight to stop development of a power plant complex on Storm King, continues to preserve open space in the Hudson Valley and owns two conservation easements in Yonkers on properties with the Palisades in their viewshed.

Updates on this issue will be posted at  /issue/protecting-palisades-ridgeline