Did anyone attend the hearing last night? Any update regarding the result would be great. I wasn't able to locate info online...

I just called the freeholders and Executive Tom DeGise
I wish I could attend the meeting tonight. I am out of town. I hope there is a huge turn out against building on the cliffs.


County Executive DeGise and the freeholders can be contacted at 201.795.6001; 201.795.6000; or 201.795.6200; fax 201.217.0404 or 201.714.4825.

District 1: Doreen McAndrew DiDomenico, Chairman (Bayonne and parts of Jersey City)
District 2: William O'Dea, Chairman Pro Tempore (parts of Jersey City)
District 3: Jeffrey Dublin (parts of Jersey City)
District 4: Eliu Rivera (parts of Jersey City)
District 5: Anthony Romano (Hoboken and parts of Jersey City)
District 6: Tilo Rivas, Vice-Chairman (Union City)
District 7: Jose C. Mu?oz (West New York, Weekhawken, Guttenberg)
District 8: Thomas Liggio (North Bergen and parts of Jersey City and Secaucus)
District 9: Albert Cifelli (East Newark, Harrison, Kearny and parts of Secaucus)

It's here, as it says in the article, across River road from the Medical Center.
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You are not very clear -- where do they want to build?? For example -- if it is where the meeting is to be held -- I would be happy to see a Starbucks...
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Demand Hudson County Freeholders Nix Strip Mall Proposal for Palisade Cliffs

Urgent action is needed TODAY to save the Palisade Cliffs!

Monday marks the first time ever that a Planning Board decision will be appealed to the Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders, and it?s the public?s final chance to speak out against the proposed construction of a strip mall on the Palisade Cliffs.

The Freeholders ignored the Coalition to Preserve the Palisades Cliffs? (CPPC) initial request for an appeal of a Planning Board decision that waived the Steep Slope ordinance protecting the Palisades Cliffs from development, and the organization was forced to challenge the decision in New Jersey Superior Court in June of 2009 with the help of NJ Appleseed and Columbia Law School's Environmental Law Clinic.

On February 19, 2010 Judge Mark Baber ruled that the Freeholder?s refusal to hold a public hearing violated the law and ordered them to hear the appeal within 45 days. That hearing will take place on MONDAY March 22.

No one would even think about building a Starbucks on the Grand Canyon, and we shouldn?t treat Hudson County?s nationally recognized geographic wonder any differently.

We have one opportunity to speak out; come tell the Freeholders what you think about the proposed construction: (1) Attend the meeting on Monday, March 22, 2010 at 6 p.m. at 567 Pavonia Avenue, Jersey City, NJ.

(2) Contact the Freeholders and Executive Tom DeGise TODAY and tell them you want the Palisades spared from development. For more info, see article in the Jersey Journal: http://njo.live.advance.net/news/jjou ... 26768754889780.xml&coll=3

Contact info: (same phone number for each Freeholder - 201-795-6001, 201-795-6000 or 201-795-6200; fax 201-217-0404 or 201-714-4825)

District 1: Doreen McAndrew DiDomenico, Chairman (Bayonne and parts of Jersey City)
District 2: William O'Dea, Chairman Pro Tempore (parts of Jersey City)
District 3: Jeffrey Dublin (parts of Jersey City)
District 4: Eliu Rivera (parts of Jersey City)
District 5: Anthony Romano (Hoboken and parts of Jersey City)
District 6: Tilo Rivas, Vice-Chairman (Union City)
District 7: Jose C. Mu?oz (West New York, Weekhawken, Guttenberg)
District 8: Thomas Liggio (North Bergen and parts of Jersey City and Secaucus)
District 9: Albert Cifelli (East Newark, Harrison, Kearny and parts of Secaucus)

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/Coal ... erve-the-Palisades-Cliffs

Another cliffhanger for Palisades

The New Jersey Palisades, one of our state's iconic landscapes, rises majestically from the west bank of the Hudson River.As with many special places in New Jersey, however, the insatiable appetite of sprawl is threatening this 200 million-year-old landmark.

The latest threat is a new strip mall, something we never seem to have enough of! The good news is that we can all add our voices to those fighting to protect the Palisades.

The beauty of the sheer cliffs rising 350 to 550 feet from the river's edge has lent a dramatic feel to anything near them - from the Perils of Pauline movies shot there in the early 1900s, to the popular Palisades Amusement Park in the 1960s, to the magnificent Palisades Interstate Park today.

Though many of the best-known Palisades sites are north of the George Washington Bridge, the 20-mile-long geologic formation extends southward all the way to Jersey City in Hudson County. The Palisades were a tempting target for quarrying in the 1890s, sparking the New Jersey State Federation of Women's Clubs and others to step in to save them.

While significant sections of the northern Palisades were ultimately preserved, the southern portion was not. Buildings of all shapes and sizes sprouted around the cliffs of New Jersey's "Gold Coast." Today, with advancements in construction methods and a shrinking inventory of open land, developers are setting their sights on the cliffs themselves, threatening to chip away in a few years a work of art that nature took millions to produce.

To build the proposed strip mall in North Bergen developers would have to remove extraordinarily large quantities of soil and rock from the base of the cliffs, and install metal nets to protect against falling rocks from above. For all this effort and disturbance, the mall would offer nothing unique - just the ubiquitous bank branch, chain drugstore and upscale coffee shop. The town has approved the project, hoping to reap $200,000 in annual property taxes, and has hired an independent engineering firm to back its conclu The Hudson County Planning Board, however, is concerned the commercial development could destabilize the cliffs and roadway above, and exacerbate problems on an already flood-prone section of River Road below.

In addition to the county's concerns, many local citizens oppose the strip mall and are mobilizing to save the cliffs. A group known as the Coalition to Preserve Palisades Cliffs is appealing to state officials and elected representatives to enforce regulations designed to protect the cliffs.

The citizens group has created an online petition at
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/Coal ... erve-the-Palisades-Cliffs
They are to lobby the N.J. Department of Environmental Protection, as well as the Hudson County Freeholders and county executive, to nix the project - which could come before the county Planning Board in June. One nice feature of the petition site is that signers can also post their comments.

We may have gotten the term "cliffhanger" from the way the Palisades were used in the Perils of Pauline, but their fate shouldn't be a cliffhanger. One look at these majestic cliffs should be enough to convince anyone that they are a part of our natural heritage worth saving.

Contact Michele S. Byers, executive director of the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, at info@njconservation.org.