By Matthew Brown, The Record, Hackensack, N.J.
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Jan. 10 -- Statewide environmental groups on Tuesday said they will file suit to stop a Canadian corporation from
building 1,600 condominiums along with hotels, retail stores, and a golf course at Mountain Creek Ski Area in Vernon.
Vernon planning officials approved the 15-year construction plan Dec. 20. In doing so, they rebuffed an eleventh-hour
state plea for a delay so that the Department of Environmental Protection could review whether the project clashed
with environmental deed restrictions on the property.
The $500 million Intrawest Corp. proposal, billed as an expansion of the once-bankrupt ski area into a four-season
resort, is set in the heart of New Jersey's Highlands region, a battleground for environmentalists.
The lawsuit announcement is intended to prod the state to take a more aggressive stance toward Intrawest.
It was made under the New Jersey Environmental Rights Act, which allows the public to petition the courts to step
in and enforce environmental regulations in the absence of state action. Under the act, 30-day notice must be given
before a civil suit is filed.
"Clearly the legal obligation to protect the environment rests squarely with the [state] Attorney General's
Office," said Tim Dillingham of the New Jersey Conservation Foundation. His group will be joined in its suit
by the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club, the New Jersey Audubon Society, the Association of New Jersey Environmental
Commissions, and Environmental Defense, a national organization.
An Intrawest spokesman declined to comment, other than to call the announcement "theoretical dueling"
until the lawsuit is filed.
Because of the size of the project, officials in Passaic County and West Milford have said they are worried about
potential traffic tie-ups on Route 23.
Vernon officials, including Mayor John Logan, trumpet the company's plans as an economic boon to a rural township
bereft of industry.
The project is slated in part for the top of Hamburg Mountain, a former wildlife management area sold by the state
in the 1980s to the ski area's former owners, Great American Recreation. Deed restrictions made at the time of
that sale allow only conservation or recreational uses on the site.
Vernon officials contend that the agreement allows them to define the recreational uses, and that they include
golf. The state has sent several letters to the company saying it was concerned about a possible deed restriction
violation but to date has withheld final judgment.
A spokeswoman for the Attorney General's Office said the state was aware of the lawsuit announcement.
"We are still in communication with Intrawest, trying to discuss our concerns," spokeswoman Katherine
Lyons said. "We do have some preliminary concerns . . . but as far as whether we're going to do anything,
I can't comment at this point."
Intrawest owns ski areas throughout North America, including such major resorts as Whistler/Blackcomb in British
Columbia, Mammoth in California, and Stratton in Vermont. Since buying Mountain Creek -- formerly known as Vernon
Valley -- in 1997, the company has sunk $30 million into new lifts and other improvements.
It also hired Vernon's former Planning Board attorney and former Planning Board chairman to spearhead its efforts
in the town.
Dillingham said it is up to the state to intercede because "they are the holders of the deed. It is absolutely
upon them to step up and enforce these easements" outlined in the deed restriction.
The same environmental groups are involved in a separate lawsuit against Vernon for crafting a mountain resort
ordinance last year tailored to Intrawest's project and goes against previous zoning restrictions on the 2,200-acre
site.
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