Res. No. 251
Resolution calling on the Borough of Engelwood Cliffs, New Jersey, to withdraw the variance it issued to the LG Corporation that would allow LG to build its new headquarters to exceed the 35 foot height limit established in the Borough’s zoning law and reverse the zoning law change that would allow structures to be built over 35 feet without a variance, and calling on the LG Corporation to respect the integrity of the Palisades by voluntarily redesigning its proposal to comply with the current zoning law.
By Council Members Cohen, Levine, Rodriguez, Rosenthal, Mendez, Constantinides, Johnson, Rose, Garodnick, Palma, Koo, Richards, Crowley, Koslowitz, Deutsch, Lancman, Vallone, Dromm, Levin, Vacca, Gentile, Gibson, Torres, Van Bramer, Kallos and Treyger
Whereas, The Palisades, cliffs that line the Hudson River from just across the Hudson from New York City, in New Jersey, to the Tappen Zee Bridge, have long been renowned for and protected because of their natural beauty and geologic significance; and
Whereas, The Palisades were designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1965, as a National Natural Landmark in 1983 for being "the best example of a thick diabase sill in the United States," and as a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 2014; and
Whereas, Conservation efforts to protect the Palisades from degradation started in the 1890s and represents one of the earliest such conservation efforts in the United States, resulting in the Interstate Park Commission established by New York and New Jersey governors, Theodore Roosevelt and Foster Voorhees, respectively, and the purchase and donation of the current park land by John D. Rockefeller in the early 1930s; and
Whereas, Until recently, the town of Englewood Cliffs’ zoning laws prevented building structures over 35 feet without a variance; and
Whereas, Englewood Cliffs, in February of 2012, issued a variance to the LG Corporation to build an eight-story tower that would be 143 feet high and would represent the first breach of the viewscape of the Palisades north of the George Washington Bridge in over 100 years; and
Whereas, The town of Englewood Cliffs amended their zoning law in October of 2012 so that no variance would be needed to build structures over 35 feet tall; and
Whereas, This tower, and other potential future developments, would mar the viewscape of thousands of New Yorkers and significantly harm a long-cherished natural area in close proximity to large urban areas; and
Whereas, the LG Corporation could develop their headquarters without causing harm to this natural area; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls on the Borough of Engelwood Cliffs, New Jersey, to withdraw the variance it issued to the LG Corporation that would allow LG to build its new headquarters to exceed the 35 foot height limit established in the Borough’s zoning law and reverse the zoning law change that would allow structures to be built over 35 feet without a variance, and calling on the LG Corporation to respect the integrity of the Palisades by voluntarily redesigning its proposal to comply with the current zoning law.
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