Rec’s goal: Develop sites with residents

Rec’s goal: Develop
sites with residents

By louis c. hochman

MMillstone Township residents should not worry about facilities for active recreation being placed near their homes, according to the chairman of the recreation commission.

Don Powell, commission chairman, said recent public discourse about the panel using three open space parcels for recreation has blown the issue out of proportion. The commission, with permission from the Township Com-mittee, is looking at possible uses of open space on Rocky Brook Road, at Gravatt Circle and at the orchards on Perrineville Road.

Since the committee approved a request from the rec board to assess those sites for possible uses, residents living near those three locations have noted their concerns about noise and disturbances sometimes associated with recreation sites.

"We’re just looking to fulfill the needs of the kids in town. We don’t want to step on anyone’s toes in anyone’s neighborhood," Powell said.

He said he agreed with a report issued by the township engineer which stated that only passive recreation is appropriate at Rocky Brook Road, at Gravatt Circle and at the orchards.

Passive recreation is low intensity and typically involves simple facilities such as horse trails or bicycle paths. Township officials are currently working on a definition of passive recreation.

"We agree with the township engineer about the uses," Powell said. "We’re not looking to put up anything that’s going to disturb the neighbors."

He said the recreation commission had not originally intended to request use of the parcels, but did so after being told by committee members that they were available.

"We really hadn’t marked them off in our plans for any kind of recreation at all, but we submitted a request because the committee thought we could put the land to good use," he said.

Powell said since that time residents have often jumped to the wrong conclusions, picturing expansive facilities like football fields with bright lights being placed down the street from their homes.

"It has been a whole lot of noise over nothing. We said we’d like to look at the sites for rec use, but we didn’t say for what," he said. "It just grew and grew through rumors and it became a ‘not in my backyard’ kind of thing. It’s just gotten kind of out of hand."

Powell said recreation facilities – both active and passive – are desperately needed in Mill-stone. He said the commission members will work with residents to ensure that the development of such facilities doesn’t disturb them.

"We are so far behind on recreation right now compared to the number of people in town, and in particular the number of kids moving in. Hopefully, the county will come through with some plans that can help alleviate that, but that’s not happening yet," he said. "It’s easy to identify little properties here and there that we’d like to use, but it’s another thing to put in the money to make them viable parcels. Something, though, needs to get done."