West Orange, New Jersey, residents are upset with the expanding Turtle Back Zoo, saying the once serene area has turned into a veritable theme part with parking and crowd control issues.
"It used to be a quiet, peaceful neighborhood," resident Robert Rashkes said. "Now we're getting all the effects from the recreation complex."
"Citizens of West Orange and surrounding communities cannot get past the Turtle Back Zoo, sometimes they wait 45 minutes or more for traffic to clear up," Sally Malanga told CBS.
Mike Kerr, the zoo's director, has asked Essex County officials for permission to build a new amphitheater on the South Mountain Reservation, which would cost the reservation an acre of fully grown trees.
Neighbors surrounding the zoo have started an online petition to stop any further expansion, claiming that the zoo already leveled almost a full acre of fully-grown trees for a newly built parking garage.
"If they take away an acre here, and an acre there, you're not going to have the reservation," Malanga added.
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