For Immediate Release
Contact: Jeff Tittel, NJ Sierra Club, 609-558-9100
Sky Bly FC who was initially a partner in the massive sports complex proposal, Trophy Park, has now withdrawn from the project. Governor Phil Murphy is also a co- owner of the Sky Blue FC soccer club. Trophy Park, would be built on 200acres much of the wooded land along the shore of Prospertown Lake that was once owned by the late Stanley Switlik. The park would also be right next to the Prospertown Wildlife Management Area. Trophy Park would feature 23 full sized athletic fields, a 400,000 square foot indoor sports facility, and more.
“Its good that Sky Blue FC has withdrawn from this massive sprawl project in the Pines, hopefully this could help stop the proposal. Trophy Park is a terrible project and even though Sky Blue is out, we will fight this park anyway. The project would destroy 200-acres in the Pinelands next to a state-owned wildlife management area. Trophy Park will cause more traffic, more runoff and sprawl in the area There are also plenty of alternative sites on existing developed land for this sports complex to be built that would not cause as much environmental damage,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “Even though Sky Blue pulled out of the project, there is no guarantee someone else won’t take their place or they won’t come back later, hopefully they won’t.
The proposed location of Trophy Park will be south of Great Adventure, built along the banks of Prospertown Lake and Prospertown Wildlife Management Area. Due to the site’s environmentally sensitive ecosystems such as important wetlands and habitats of threatened and endangered species, the park will need to apply for several permits from the Department of Environmental Protection such as wetlands permits, stormwater permits, and more.
“The massive sports complex and hotel would bring more cars and more people into the environmentally-sensitive area. This means more roads and sewers as well as much more construction. The deforestation from this project alone would undo any good that came from our settlement with Six Flags over their proposed parking lot. We worked to save close to 10,000 trees in the Pinelands and now they are trying to cut down 10 times that amount,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “We have been fighting to protect the Pinelands against development for over 40 years and we will keep on fighting to protect it. Even though Governor Murphy’s soccer team has pulled out from this sprawl project, we will keep fighting Trophy Park anyway!