Activists To Fight 50-Story Communications Tower In Bergen County, They Say

MAHWAH, NJ — Environmental activists and members of the Ramapough Conservancy say they'll fight a plan to allow a communications tower near the Mahwah/Oakland border.

The plan has not yet been approved by the county of Bergen, they say, but would bring a 500-foot tower to county land.

The groups urged residents to attend Wednesday's public meeting of the Bergen County Board of Commissioners, simply to make their opinions known.

"We had a call last night with the NJ Highlands Coalition, Restore Native Plants, Skylands Guardian, and retired head of the NJ Sierra Club Jeff Tittel regarding the 500-foot tower the County of Bergen may be building," the Rampaough Conservancy posted on social media last week. "This tower has nothing to do with cell phone coverage (although it could later) and is being proposed by a private entity (Wall St.) to communicate quicker trades via towers."

The Sierra Club also shared a message last week urging activists to attend the 7 p.m. public meeting Wednesday.

"This project is the privatization and industrialization of parkland that belongs to the people," said a message from a Sierra Club member. "They are putting a dagger into the heart of the Ramapo Valley County Reservation. The purpose of this project is to provide high speed microwave service for a private corporation. They move this data from Wall Street to Canada."

They believe the tower could harm the environment and disrupt the view of the Ramapo Mountains.

A spokesperson for Bergen County Executive James Tedesco did not respond to questions by press time, but this story will be updated if more information is released.

The meeting takes place in Hackensack. More details are here: https://bergencountynj.gov.