By Kathryn Brenzel

NORTH BERGEN —  Some North Bergen residents say that plans to make the township preschool a permanent resident of a Hudson County Park threaten one of their few escapes from congested urban living.

Residents attended a public hearing on Wednesday night to discuss a diversion agreement that would allow the township to acquire 1.1 acres in James J. Braddock/North Hudson Park for PreSchool-1. The preschool's trailers have occupied the plot in Bruin Stadium for more than 10 years, and now the township is seeking to make the residency permanent.

The agreement is a tradeoff — land in the county park for the creation of new park space elsewhere. The township would acquire and convert a 1.5-acre plot on Paterson Plank Road— currently a vacant carwash—  into a public space and .7 acres on River Road to protect access to the Bird Sanctuary. Also under the agreement, 1.1 acres along 14th Street in Hoboken would be converted for recreational use.

Many who spoke at the hearing expressed fears that the agreement would mean further parceling of the county park for public purposes. Some were concerned that North Bergen would build more schools and public buildings in the park.

“This is our Central Park, and they are going to take this and cut it up into pieces and do whatever they want," said resident Alan Weissman.

A panel of county and township officials stressed that the park land in question could only ever be used for public purposes — not private development, as some early rumors claimed. They swatted concerns that other towns may follow North Bergen's example and try to take land in the county park, saying that the state Department of Environmental Protection's diversion requirements are very strict. The public hearing was the latest step in process required for the diversion agreement. The township's plans now head to the DEP for consideration.

Jody Jamieson, who lives on Boulevard East, said the agreement would wrongfully break up one of the county's most "treasured landscapes."

"Our children deserve decent places to play," she said. "I believe this is such a cop out."

She called the township's plans a "violation of public trust," since the park was initially meant to be a temporary location for the preschool.

The preschool's trailers have been stationed in Bruins Stadium for roughly 12 years. The location was intended to be temporary while a new facility at the Lincoln School was being constructed. However, after construction delays and a dramatic increase in student enrollment, officials decided to use the building as a kindergarten center.

In 2011, the state Department of Environmental Protection told the township that its use of the park land was unauthorized. Township officials looked for other locations for the school but found alternatives too costly — estimated at as high as $10 million— and disruptive to parking and traffic.

Superintendent George J. Solter said that ideally, the school will eventually replace the trailers with a modular building to accommodate increasing enrollment. But the building would be built on the footprint of the trailers, he said, and not take any additional space.

He said the school isn't taking up space that would be used otherwise.

“What’s basically happening is that land isn’t really park worthy-even if the trailers weren’t there, it wouldn’t be park worthy," he told NJ Advance Media in an earlier interview. “We look at it as, it’s a great facility for the kids”

Township and county officials say the plan is the best option for the school and for the township.

"The choice was, get off the land, or find another way. We found another way," Mayor Nicholas Sacco said. "This is something for our children."

He dismissed allegations made during the hearing that asbestos had been found in the school's trailers as "totally nonsense."

Some of the preschool's teachers and parents of students defended the trailers as a great environment for children who normally have little access to open space. Esther Ortega, early childhood supervisor at the preschool, said the trailers are the best setting for the school in the township. She said the trailers have actually encouraged the surrounding areas of the park to flourish.

"I invite you all to see the trailers. They are magnificent," she said. "We've made the land look better and better."

Some residents disputed that the park is the safest place for preschoolers, citing the discovery of a dead homeless man in a wooded area of the park in June and a firethat destroyed one of the trailers during Hurricane Sandy.

Township police Chief Robert Dowd said Bruin Stadium is a fenced in, secure area. He called the homeless man's death tragic, but noted that he died from a number of causes, none of which were violent. He said that the fire was caused by a downed powerline during Hurricane Sandy.

"It's a natural disaster," he said. "It's anecdotal evidence that doesn't prove that the space is not safe."