It might even set the tone for centuries as this state confronts its future. Newark, which owns 18,000 acres of watershed in West Milford, recently posted plans to start selling and leasing to developers. Newark wants the cash. There are, too, a good many people in West Milford who seek the ratables that development would bring.
Homeowners basically foot the taxes.
Add to that the desire of developers for fresh land. But the other side has its forces lined up, too. There are townspeople who do not want the character of West Milford changed. There are residents from around the state who are tired of seeing open land disappear. It is the Regional Plan Association, a non-profit study and advisory group that has been in the middle of this kind of battle for its entire 69 years.