Freeholders Signal Support for LG Headquarters Project

The Bergen County Freeholder Board is preparing to formally support a controversial plan by LG Electronics to build a 143-foot tall corporate headquarters above the Palisades tree line in Englewood Cliffs, NorthJersey.com reported.

More than 100 union workers packed a freeholder board meeting Wednesday to back the project, which they say would bring much needed construction jobs, the report said. One union leader, Rick Sabato, pointed by 40 to 50 percent unemployment endured by his members in recent years.

“It’s obvious the groups that oppose this project do not know the pain of not having a job," Freeholder Steve Tanelli said. 

While the county freeholders took no formal action, the board launched a committee to draft a resolution backing the proposal, according to the report. The measure is expected to be ready for the Sept. 3 meeting.

Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan already endorsed the project and has asked Gov. Christie to back LG’s plan.

The LG project has faced opposition from conservationist groups and New York cultural institutions. Opponents argue the building would tarnish views of the Palisades and have pressed the company to adopt a low-lying design.

“I would ask LG why the building has to be above the tree line,” Edward Goodell, executive director of the New Jersey New York Trail Conference, said in the report. “You could have the same number of jobs and the same amount of taxes on the existing impervious surface.”

Editorials in the New York Times and New York Daily News have panned the design and a bipartisan group of four ex-New Jersey governors wrote to LG asking the company to reconsider.

LG officials have pointed to the building’s environmentally-friendly features and noted the project was already approved after several public hearings.