Leonia, New Jersey

A decades-old dispute over a 31,000-square-foot strip of protected parkland in Leonia, New Jersey, has stalled a land sale that Kulite Industries, the borough's largest employer, needs to build an employee parking lot. The state Department of Environmental Protection won't grant permanent access through Overpeck County Park until Leonia resolves a separate issue: its public works buildings, built in 1974, encroach on land classified under the state's Green Acres program.

Fixing the encroachment would require either demolishing the DPW facility or providing five acres of replacement land per acre affected, both costly for taxpayers. Mayor Bill Ziegler has pressed the county, DEP, and Governor Mikie Sherrill's office for relief, while Kulite, which employs nearly 900 people and is being courted by other states, says the parking shortage threatens its ability to stay in New Jersey.