LYNDHURST, NJ-The American Dream Meadowlands project – the former Xanadu – cleared at least one hurdle this week toward the goal of opening as a retail/entertainment center before Super Bowl 2014 at adjacent MetLife Stadium, obtaining a necessary environmental approval from the state Meadowlands Commission.
On the other hand, the New York Giants and Jets delivered a fresh kick in the teeth to that plan by filing suit against the developers.
The teams have sued Triple Five, the Canada-based developer that took over the half-finished project in 2008, claiming expansion plans violate an agreement signed with a previous developer in 2006 to limit traffic on Sunday game days.
The New Jersey Meadowlands Commission endorsed an environmental impact report on Thursday that represented one of the last approvals needed for Triple Five’s plan to add a water and amusement park to the project. The developer claims it needs to build on 5.5 acres of wetlands to add the water park and make the American Dream project economically viable.
Environmental advocates reacted furiously: “The Meadowlands Commission is nothing but a rubber stamp for overdevelopment and traffic," says Jeff Tittel of the Sierra Club in a statement. "This assessment is a whitewash that is going to mean the people in Bergen County are going to be stuck in permanent gridlock, with a significant increase in pollution."
The US Army Corps of Engineers still has to complete an environmental review of the Triple Five plan.
Only after that is complete, and public comment has been heard, can the sports authority vote the whole project up or down. Gov. Christopher J. Christie’s administration has been pressing hard to get forward motion at the site, where the existing half-built multi-colored structure has been widely derided as an eyesore. .
Previous developers decamped mid-construction when their financing collapsed. Triple Five has said it is still assembling the financing to proceed with American Dream.
The NFL teams claim in their lawsuit that having the waterpark open on Sunday game days would lead to a transportation “nightmare.” The retail mall at American Dream would not be open on Sundays, because of Bergen County’s blue laws.
The teams have written authority to veto anything at the Meadowlands complex that would negatively affect fans' game day experiences, they claim in the suit. The developer has not yet provided a response.
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