The Star Ledger
8/12/94
OPPONENTS TEE OFF AT A HEARING ON LIBERTY PARK GOLF COURSE PLAN
AL FRANK
A proposal to build a public golf course in Liberty State Park found itself in
the rough during a public hearing in Jersey City last night. The $20 million
plan, which has been debated for three years, was supported by those who say it
will help the state pay for improving the popular waterfront park that opened 18
years ago but still is only 20 percent complete. Proponents said the golf course
will not only provide an attractive amenity but also generate enough money to
pay for landscaping 50 acres of parkland with playing fields and other
facilities. But the hundreds who packed the landmark Central Railroad of New
Jersey Terminal were overwhelmingly against the plan, saying there are just too
few golfers to justify taking about a half of the park's available open space in
an urban area where open space is at a premium.
The partisan crowd repeatedly shouted down those attempting to speak on behalf
of the proposal. Many also waved small, green signs reading ''No golf course,''
successfully circumventing park rangers, who required larger placards - both pro
and con - to be posted near the terminal doors. ''No one can take open space
from our people,'' said Audrey Zapp of Jersey City, a longtime critic of park
development proposals. Statements opposing the plan were also submitted by
representatives of Reps. Robert Menendez (D-13th Dist.) and Robert Torricelli
(D-9th Dist.) Sen. Bernard Kenny (D-Hudson), the only legislator who testified
personally, said a golf course as a money-raiser to finish the park was
unnecessary. ''The money is there,'' Kenny said of the state treasury. ''Put a
stake, once and for all, in the golf course proposal.'' The hearing was
conducted by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to air a
plan devised by the iberty State Park Development Corp., a non-profit arm of the
agency founded in 1984 to find private developers to build park amenities in
exchange for long-term operating leases. Steve Lanset of Hoboken faulted the
corporation's operation of two parking lots, its only business venture so far.
''If this gang can't succeed at the parking lot business, how can they succeed
at the golf course business?'' Peter Ylvisaker, development corporation
president, said the plan was not only workable, but would provide balanced
recreational opportunities for the region. ''It's not just a golf course; it's a
lot more.'' ''This would provide the greatest benefit to the greatest number of
people,'' said the Rev. Daniel Degnan, president of St. Peter's College, who
chaired the committee that came up with the plan. Like Ylvisaker, Degnan was
repeatedly hooted. One man yelled, ''Go to confession, Father. You're lying.''
The plan calls for spending $20 million on the golf course, picnic areas,
playgrounds, walkways, formal gardens and playing fields. The amenities would be
constructed in an undeveloped section of the park west of Freedom Way. Last
night was the first of two hearings to be conducted by the administration of
Gov. Christie Whitman, who said she is receptive to the plan. The next hearing
will be Aug. 25 at 7 p.m. in DEP headquarters at 401 E. State St., Trenton. The
record will remain open until Sept. 24 for submission of written comments. Prior
hearings were conducted by former DEP Commissioner Scott Weiner and then a task
force that drew up the latest proposal after deliberating more than a year after
Weiner's rejection of the original plan. The plan debated last night calls for
an $11 million golf course to be built on 150 acres of a 225-acre section of
park bounded by Freedom Way and Phillip Drive. In the area, 35 acres would be
reserved for wetlands. The other 40 acres, at a cost of $5 million, would be
transformed into passive recreation facilities, including walkways, picnic
areas, playgrounds, a formal garden and restrooms. Active recreation facilities
are to be built on the 11-acre ''Dog Show Field'' at the corner of Freedom Way
and Morris Pesin Drive. The multi-purpose playing fields and a 1,500-square-foot
fieldhouse would cost about $2 million. If any funds are available following the
construction of those improvements, they would be allocated to a new pool and
recreation complex at Camp Liberty at an estimated cost of $8 million. DEP
Commissioner Robert Shinn, who sat at the dais while assistant Commissioner
James Hall presided at the hearing, said he hoped to make a decision on the
proposal by the end of the year. ''This park needs to be developed,'' Shinn
said. ''What's been done here is so dynamic, but it really needs to be finished.
It's an incredible facility.'' Many speakers, including Lori Luck of Jersey
City, agreed, noting that the harbor vistas and the proximity to the Statue of
Liberty and Ellis Island would be spoiled by a golf course. A golf course was
proposed in a 1983 DEP "Action Plan" but that plan never had a public
hearing. But opposition to its size prompted Weiner to sever it from the
corporation's first bond sale in 1992, and a task force convened by the
corporation came up with the latest plan. The earlier bond sale earmarked $13.2
million for two parking lots, improvements to the railroad terminal and raising
the bulkhead at the park's northern end. The cost of those bonds is covered by
parking fees
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