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Petty’s
Island
Another issue that is sure to bedevil the new administration
is the fate of Petty’s Island. In many ways, Petty’s
Island is a microcosm of many of the issues discussed above,
and will be a difficult political challenge for Governor Corzine
as he seeks to distance himself from the same political bosses
with whom he needs to co-exist in order to get his agenda
approved by the Democratic Legislature.
Petty’s Island is a 392-acre island in the Delaware
River, located between Camden and Philadelphia, although the
island is actually a part of Pennsauken Township. The oil
company Citgo, the current owner of Petty’s Island,
has offered to clean up the island, currently home to several
industrial facilities and a pair of nesting bald eagles, and
donate it to the state Natural Lands Trust. Citgo also offered
the Trust a $2 million endowment for the management of the
island as an urban nature preserve. But Petty’s Island
has also long been eyed by local officials as the centerpiece
of their planned redevelopment of the Pennsauken and Camden
riverfront, and the island has become a virtual board game
representing the rough and tumble of Jersey politics. In fact,
it has been suggested that the desire to redevelop Petty’s
Island was directly linked to the speedy passage of the Fast
Track law, and that it was passed in order to prevent the
DEP from using endangered species rules to deny the necessary
environmental permits.
The recent saga of Patty’s Island reads like a novel.
The McGreevey administration originally flirted with the idea
of creating a Liberty State Park South along the Camden waterfront
and sent signals to Citgo that the state government would
accept donation of the island. But in the face of strong opposition
by powerful South Jersey Democratic leader George Norcross
and virtually every South Jersey Democratic legislator, the
McGreevey administration reversed course, publicly renounced
the Citgo offer, and directed its representatives on the Natural
Lands Trust to reject the land donation. Pennsauken then began
the actions that would be needed to condemn the island so
it could be turned over its designated redeveloper, the politically
connected Cherokee firm, for the development of upscale housing,
and a golf course and conference center.
This rejection so infuriated many environmentalists and community
activists that they launched a series of public events to
accuse Pennsauken and Cherokee of “pay to play”
politics, publishing the details of Cherokee’s generous
political contributions to local and statewide Democrats.
At roughly the same time, state and federal wildlife officials
brought charges against a Cherokee consultant for causing
the death of a baby bald eagle from the Petty’s Island
nest, and the nesting eagles appear to have recently relocated
from the island to the Camden waterfront.
During the gubernatorial campaign, Republican nominee Doug
Forrester repeatedly sought to use Petty’s Island as
the poster child in his campaign to paint Corzine as beholden
to Norcross and other Democratic bosses. While this strategy
did not ultimately affect the outcome of the gubernatorial
race, it did guarantee that “Petty politics” would
remain the subject of strong media and public interest in
the Corzine administration, for better or for worse.
In fact, it appears probable that Pennsauken will move to
condemn Petty’s Island within months, of Corzine’s
inauguration, and the new Governor will likely be pressed
to repudiate the decision of his predecessor to acquiesce
to the redevelopment of Petty’s Island by Cherokee.
Politically, this will be a extremely difficult decision for
Corzine to have to make.
For many, turning Petty’s Island into a nature preserve
represents a once in a lifetime chance to have a spectacular
urban park within sight of the skyline of Philadelphia, complete
with bald eagles, at no cost to the public. These people also
view a preserved Petty’s Island as the centerpiece of
a redeveloped waterfront which will attract new private capital
in much the same way that Liberty State Park has encouraged
the redevelopment of the Hudson River waterfront into what
is now known as the “Gold Coast.” Equally important,
some folks believe that saving the island could represent
a rejection of “pay to play” politics and an opportunity
for Jon Corzine to make it perfectly clear to the bosses that
there really is a new sheriff in town and a new way of doing
business in Trenton.
To others, however, including virtually the entire Democratic
power structure in South Jersey, Petty’s Island is the
quintessential example of a brownfield that ought to be redeveloped,
where economic concerns should clearly trump ecological issues.
For a new Governor, who spoke often on the campaign trail
about redesigning the Fast Track permitting process, curbing
the abuse of eminent domain, ending “pay to play”
politics, revitalizing urban areas, preserving open space
and rare species, and demonstrating his independence from
party bosses, the showdown over Petty’s is close at
hand. And whether or not Jon Corzine chooses to weigh in to
direct the outcome of this matter may well be the first defining
moment of his new administration, as well as one that will
have a profound and lasting effect on his future relationship
with power brokers and partisans on both sides of this and
many other contentious issues.
-MC
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