WEST MILFORD Victory may be short-lived for residents opposed to high density development in West Milford. Two weeks ago opponents of Valley Ridge, a 109 townhouse complex on ten acres, chalked up a win when the planning board ruled against the developer, Trammel Crow Residential. But now it looks like Eagle Ridge, a 288 unit proposed by developer K. Hovnanian, may be back in business. The appellate division of the State Superior Court ruled last week that the Municipal Utility Authority and Hovnanian will have another chance to convince the Department of Enviromental Protection to vacate their September 2005 decision denying a water permit. The Eagle Ridge development originally received approval from the West Milford Planning Board in October of 2003. But the approval hinged on Hovnanian getting a water permit from the Municipal Water Authority. Although the Highlands Act came into effect in August of 2004, the Eagle Ridge approval predated the act and so was exempt from it. But the exemption was to expire on October 22, 2005. Hovnanian needed to get the water permit approved by the DEP prior to the expiration date in order to move forward. Skylands Clean and other local environmental activists argued their case against the development to then-Commissioner Bradley Campbell and included testimony from outside experts. Their efforts were rewarded when Campbell denied the permit. Hovnanian filed an appeal that argued the decision was not based on DEP expertise but instead on citizen’s concerns and experts hired by activists. The court ruled that the developer still has to get the water allocation permit in order to build, but they now have another shot at convincing the DEP that there will be little or no adverse environmental impact if the project is built. Hovnanian’s attorney was unavailable for comment prior to press time, so it is unknown what the company’s next move will be.