Stop the massive warehouse in Liberty State Park: The park belongs to the people, not millionaires’ yachts
Liberty State Park is a national treasure and a symbol of freedom. Named after the Statue of Liberty, it serves as a gateway to the United States and is one of the most visited and diverse parks in the nation, welcoming more than 5 million visitors each year.
For more than 40 years, the people of New Jersey have fought battle after battle to protect Liberty State Park from privatization and development. Today, we face yet another threat: a massive warehouse proposal that would turn part of this sacred public space into an industrial storage facility for millionaires’ yachts.
I strongly oppose the proposed 60-year lease for the Suntex-owned Liberty Landing Marina, which includes building a boat storage warehouse with 500 dry racks inside a 75-foot-high commercial building on three acres along Audrey Zapp Drive at the park’s northern entrance.
Liberty State Park is the crown jewel of our state park system. Once again, it is under threat from privatization and industrialization. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn LaTourette and his agency must protect the park from this latest abomination.
Many residents in nearby urban and low-income communities have limited access to parks and green spaces. Liberty State Park is one of the few true natural sanctuaries in this area. The 10 acres currently controlled by the marina should be returned to the people, not used as a bargaining chip for Suntex’s warehouse plan.
That warehouse would damage the park’s character, history, openness, purpose, and sacredness. It would also violate the 1990 National Park Service ruling that limited development on this land to a half an acre, since it was purchased with federal Land and Water Conservation Fund dollars designated for public outdoor recreation.
Massive warehouses are already an eyesore in our farmlands and rural communities. They have no place in Liberty State Park, an oasis in one of the most densely populated regions in the nation. With millions of annual visitors, this open space should be preserved for public enjoyment, not surrendered to industrial and private commercial development. To take away parkland for private yacht storage for 60 years would deny future generations their right to this public treasure. This would be a violation of the public trust.
No quid pro quo deals
The public has always opposed commercial encroachments into Liberty State Park, no matter how much money developers offered. The priceless character and openness of the park must be preserved for future generations.
Suntex has offered $30 million toward bulkhead replacement and higher rent in exchange for building a permanent industrial warehouse. But this would be a harmful, irreversible blight on the park. The deal is unacceptable.
The 10-acre lawn — wrongly included in the 1987 marina lease — should be returned to the public. For decades, this open field has been a community treasure for sports, play, and gatherings. Suntex must not be allowed to use the lawn as a blackmail weapon, threatening to withhold it unless they get their warehouse. If Suntex refuses, the NJDEP should exercise eminent domain to reclaim the land for public use.
No blackmail for the bulkhead cost
The marina bulkhead must not be tied to a dirty quid pro quo deal for a massive boat storage warehouse. If Suntex refuses to pay its fair share without such a giveaway, then New Jersey must find another way to fulfill its responsibility. The bulkhead benefits Suntex more than anyone else, and the company should be required to pay not just its fair share, but more.
A legacy of protecting Liberty State Park
I have long supported and worked with Friends of Liberty State Park in their successful fights against proposals for waterparks, hotels, private marinas, golf course expansions, and even a Formula One racetrack inside the park. This proposed warehouse for millionaires’ yachts is just the latest battle.
The Liberty State Park Protection Act is needed now more than ever to safeguard this park from development pressure. Liberty State Park is our Yellowstone — our national park in the heart of New Jersey’s urban landscape.
John Muir said “that public land is held in trust by the government for the people.” Commissioner LaTourette and the NJDEP must uphold that trust, stand with the people of New Jersey and protect Liberty State Park now and for generations to come. The NJDEP must reject this dirty deal and instead protect Liberty State Park for the people — today and for future generations.
Jeff Tittel is an environmental activist, the recipient of the Friends of Liberty State Park Audrey Zapp Lifetime Achievement Award, and the former director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.
