Lawmakers want to ramp up the state’s efforts to block most private redevelopment at the 1,200-acre Liberty State Park in Jersey City, a prime waterfront property along the Hudson River which private developers have been eyeing for years.

Assembly Bill 4903, introduced Jan. 17, would enact the “Liberty State Park Protection Act,” banning the Department of Environmental Protection from considering any large-scale private developments in the park, such as a controversial, large marina at the park’s south end, which the Christie-era DEP allowed to move forward.

“Most parks don’t require this type of extra protection, but it has proved truly necessary at Liberty State Park,” Greg Remaud, CEO of NY/NJ Baykeeper, an environmental advocacy group, said in a Wednesday statement.

The bill would also take the park from out of the purview of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, undoing a bill which former Gov. Chris Christie signed in 2015 and that critics said paved the way for future private redevelopment efforts.

“The money and politics at play along this section of the ‘Gold Coast’ adorned by views of Lady Liberty, has proven too great for any New Jersey administration to just say no to exclusionary private development in the Park,” Remaud added.

It’s time we enshrined in the law the protection of Liberty State Park as a free, open, urban green oasis.

The DEP would be allowed to partner with a private entity for “small-scale commercial activities that directly enhance the experience of a visitor to Liberty State Park,” reads the bill.

Such undertakings could include bicycle or kayak rentals, food stands and boat tours, but even then the DEP would have to hold multiple public hearings at times of the week when most members of the public can attend, such as evenings.

And no development whatsoever would be allowed within a 235-acre natural restoration area within the park, as well as at the Caven Point Peninsula.

The DEP, under former Gov. Chris Christie, was slated to allow and oversee construction of a 45-acre marina and a potential office and restaurant strip, but the efforts stalled in court and fell through once Gov. Phil Murphy took office in January 2018.

“A private golf course, and a second private marina, a private waterpark and motocross stadium are among the countless destructive and overwhelmingly unpopular schemes that were open to consideration by the state and prevented only by public outcry and activism led by the Friends of Liberty State Park with immense support from thousands of individuals and organizations,” Remaud added.

“It’s time we enshrined in the law the protection of Liberty State Park as a free, open, urban green oasis,” one of the sponsors, Assemblyman Raj Mukherji, D-33rd District, said in a Wednesday statement. “The park is a national treasure and the keeper of this country’s diverse, rich history with markers that have guided generations of citizens and attracted people from all over the world.”