Wetlands - 1, Wal-Mart - 0

Meadowlands Master Plan upheld after public outcry

 

By Hugh M. Carola

Plans by Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, to build a cut-rate gas station next to its new Secaucus store and the Eastern Brackish Marsh were dashed by the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission at its February meeting. By unanimously rejecting the variance request that would have allowed it, the Commissioners upheld the zoning rules set forth in the 2004 Meadowlands Master Plan.

After lengthy presentations by Wal-Mart attorneys and Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell in favor of the variance, dozens of people spoke up against Wal-Mart and in support of the Master Plan. Many attended the meeting after receiving an “All Hands on Deck” e-mail from Hackensack Riverkeeper, said Captain Bill Sheehan, executive director of Hackensack Riverkeeper.

 

To read more about this victory for the Meadowlands – and for all of us – see At the Helm, (next article).