Residents fighting plan to build apartmentson swath of untouched forest
Vikings co-owner’s company has been trying to develop the Watchung Mountains woodland for decades. The latest battle is headed to court.
Nyah Marshall For The Star-Ledger
A decades-long battle to stop a housing development from being built in one of Essex County’s last untouched forests is back in court again.
Several West Orange residents and community activists are suing to stop a billionaire family’s plan to build nearly 500 apartments in a 120-acre forest in the Watchung Mountains.
They argue in the lawsuit that the project would destroy wetlands, worsen flooding in the area and break agreements made in court nearly 20 years ago.
Billionaire developer Zygmunt Wilf, a co-owner of the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings, and his family own the forested tract through their company, West Essex Highlands Inc.
Jessica Person, chair of the Verona Environmental Commission, speaks as a coalition of residents, environmental leaders and regional organizations
oppose a plan to build nearly 500 apartments on a 120-acre forested tract in West Orange at a news conference on Friday.
John Jones, for The Star-Ledger
The residents’ lawsuit was filed Sept. 19 in Superior Court against WestOrange Township and the Wilfs’ company.
Attorneys for West Essex Highlands Inc. did not respond to a request for comment. West Orange Mayor Susan McCartney also did not respond to a request to comment on the lawsuit.
The Watchung Mountains are three long ridges that run through northern New Jersey. They have steep slopes, dense forests, and wetlands. The ridge located in West Orange includes a large stretch of largely undeveloped land sitting behind a community of condominiums.
Since July 2024, nearly two dozen planning board hearings have been held on West Essex Highlands Inc.’s proposal to build a sprawling four-building, four-story apartment complex on the site.
The plans call for 496 apartments, including 100 set aside for affordable housing. About 30 acres of forest would be cleared for construction, with the rest preserved as open space and walking trails, according to site plans.
This is not the first time the forest has been targeted for development.
Nearly two decades ago, tensions flared when the Wilf family's company first sought to build on the Watchung Mountains.
Their company purchased 185 acres of forest and headwaters in 1986. Three years later, the company built condominiums on 65 acres along Eagle
Rock Avenue, leaving the rest of the mountain untouched.
Since then, the developer has repeatedly tried to build in the woods. A 2006 plan for 136 single-family homes was rejected by township officials over environmental and safety risks. Later proposals for 130homes in 2007 and 104 homes in 2015 also failed.
However, in 2020, as West Orange faced pressure to meet New Jersey’s affordable housing requirements, township officials approved a court settlement with the developer that opened the door to the latest large-scale apartment proposal.
Chief Vincent Mann, acting chief of the Ramapough Lenape Nation, speaks at the news conference on Friday.
The settlement allowed the proposal for the development to go before the planning board as long as 100 units were set aside for affordable housing. That would help West Orange meet its state-mandated fair share of about 1,000 new affordable housing units over the next decade.
But residents and a local advocacy group say the deal should never have been made.
WeCare NJ, a nonprofit group formed by nearby homeowners to fight overdevelopment, argued the Wilf family’s company is using the state's affordable housing rules to push a project onto land they call “totally unsuitable” for large-scale construction.
“Affordable housing should not come at the expense of the destruction of one of the most environmentally sensitive sites in the region,” the group and other advocates wrote in a letter to West Orange’s mayor last week.
According to the lawsuit, the developer entered into a 2004 settlement with WeCare NJ that limited construction in the forest to 136 single-
family homes on large lots, a plan meant to avoid environmental and safety risks.
The group is asking a judge to throw out the township’s agreement with the developer, block the nearly 500-unit plan, and enforce the earlier settlement, according to court documents.
Joe Pannullo, president of WeCare, said last week that the fight is far from over, with more planning board hearings on the applications scheduled for October.