Neighbors weigh in on land management plan

Stockton council postpones vote

By Linda Seida
   STOCKTON — The Borough Council postponed voting on a management plan for 63 acres of preserved land Monday, but still had to field questions about hunting and parking from neighboring property owners and a school official.
   Because additional information regarding the plan was only recently submitted to council members, they did not have enough time to review it before the council meeting, President Michael Hagerty said.
   The council may vote on the plan in October, Mayor Stephen Giocondo said, and will continue to accept comments from the public.
   Gregg Rackin, who was mayor when the My Ben tract was preserved in 2004, said the lack of a specific access site for hunters is “a major flaw” in the proposed plan. A site needs to be designated “so people in the neighborhood don’t have to see them or be disturbed,” he said.
   He also recommended a graveled parking area at Hilltop and Wilson drives. The lack of one would be a safety issue, he said. A specific parking area would allow officials to know how many hunters were on the land at any given time. Also, hunters would “know not to go in if it’s full for the day,” he said.
   The Stockton Borough School on Main Street is adjacent to the property. Chief School Administrator Suzanne Ivans expressed concern for student safety. She also wants to ensure the schoolchildren will be able to safely use hiking trails on the site for educational purposes.
   As written now, the plan calls for a 450-foot safety zone for the school.
   Mr. Rackin said his wife, Lisa Levine, who is a member of the committee that compiled the management plan, had recommended a 1,000-foot safety zone, but the committee rejected it. Ms. Levine, who was not present at the meeting Monday, also is a member of the school’s Board of Education.
   The plan would allow hunting to thin the overpopulated deer herd. There is a deer population of between 65 and 90 per square mile, and the goal is to reduce the population to 15 to 25 per square mile.
   Council members must decide whether to allow bow-and-arrow hunting only, or other types of hunting as well.
   Councilman Craig Smith said he is interested in hearing residents’ opinions on whether “it makes sense to limit hunting to archery only.”
   ”Let’s think of the school first, and hunting, important though it is, secondary,” said resident Tom Martin.
   The land behind the school is steep. “You’re not going to hunt in back of that school unless you’re a mountain goat,” said resident Ernest Werner.
   Resident Ken Kozuhowski, who works as a policeman for a Pennsylvania borough and sends his children to the school, said he has hunted there “at least a dozen times.” He said he appreciates the concerns expressed over the land’s proximity to the school, but he has never heard of an incident occurring there.
   The land was formerly known as the My Ben tract for the corporation that owned it and planned to develop it. It is now named the Anderson tract for Capt. John Anderson, a Revolutionary War hero who purchased the land in 1792.
   The preserved site consists of 92 acres, with 63 in Stockton and the rest in Delaware Township. The township already has its own management plan in place.