Members of the public will have a chance to share their views tonight regarding a proposal by a Bergen County municipality to lease docks to a gated waterfront community in exchange for providing a nearby pedestrian walkway for the public.
The Borough of Edgewater is preparing to apply to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s (NJDEP) Green Acres Program for amended minor and major diversion approval in connection with the plan, which involves the private Edgewater Colony complex at 1445 River Road near Fort Lee. The municipality is looking to lease 1.06 acres’ worth of “existing and future boat docks/sites” that it owns to Edgewater Colony and receive both “monetary compensation” and 1.31 acres of “replacement land” in return, according to public notices.
Although the residential community itself is owned by The Edgewater Colony, Inc., property records indicate that the adjacent portion of the New Jersey side of the Hudson River, which includes much of the site of the docks, is currently under the ownership of the Borough of Edgewater. Meanwhile, the 1.31 replacement acres belong to The Edgewater Colony, Inc., the shareholders of which are residents of the community. One of the notices states the borough’s plan calls for these 1.31 acres to be used to “provide public access to the Palisades Interstate Park via a pedestrian trail connecting from River Road to Henry Hudson Drive.”
In order for this proposal to continue to advance, approvals from the commissioner of the NJDEP along with the State House Commission will be required.
Tonight’s meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m. at the Edgewater Municipal Building. Input from the public is also being accepted in writing until October 7.
Note to readers: The dates that matters are scheduled to be heard by the Borough of Edgewater and other governing bodies are subject to change.
