"Xanadu" park developers want 400-foot wheel near Rutherford (NJ) airport

Bill Leavens, AOPA's Eastern Regional Rep, wants pilots to comment on what appears to be one of the crazier things that developers have tried to pull off near an airport in recent memory.

The developers of the proposed 'Xanadu' entertainment complex in the East Rutherford, NJ meadowlands immediately south of Teterboro Airport want to build a Ferris Wheel more than 400 feet high. 

To put this into perspective, the image you see here is that of the 396-foot Tempozan ferris wheel in Osaka, Japan.  

The proposed structure will exceed obstruction standards for the glide slope for TEB runway 1 by encroaching more than 100 feet into the navigable airspace 11,000 feet south of the runway.  The structure will also penetrate the VFR Traffic Pattern Airspace climb/descent area by 66 feet for category C and D aircraft.

The comment period for this study closes on May 5.  Comments should be made on Aeronautical Study 2004-AEA-785-OE to:

FAA Eastern Region,
Attn: Robert P. Alexander, Specialist
1 Aviation Plaza - AEA - 520
Jamaica, NY  11434. 

FMI: www.aopa.org