MANCHESTER – Township residents who have questions and concerns regarding a planned county park will have the chance to express themselves at an open public forum at the library.
The Green Acres public hearing will be held at 7 p.m. September 8 at the Manchester branch of the Ocean County Library, 21 Colonial Drive, across the parking lot from the Town Hall parking lot.
The plan concerns a proposal to convert a portion of a 260-acre parcel along Ridgeway Road into active recreational use for what would be the latest Ocean County park, at 3623 Ridgeway Road. The park will occupy land on both sides of Ridgeway Boulevard, spanning Ridgeway Road from Route 547 which is also known as South Hope Chapel Road to the railroad tracks.
The late Ocean County Freeholder John Bartlett Jr. announced plans for this park in 2018. He strongly advocated for the county park system during his nearly 40 years as a county representative.
The township will soon transfer ownership of around 215 acres of property to Ocean County for the park. This will include land the county purchased from private owners. According to a hearing notice, the combined properties equate to approximately 260 acres.
The site is subject to Green Acres rules as it was bought with funds to preserve open space and prevent commercial or residential development. Such rules require public hearings to be held on any proposed change of use which in this case means going from conservation to active and passive recreation.
According to the hearing announcement issued by Ocean County, “the Green Acres restrictions on the parkland will be transferred with the parkland and will run with the property in perpetuity.”
The plan includes a change in use for the creation of various athletic fields and courts, hiking trails, a comfort station, picnic pavilions, a spray park, a maintenance yard, associated parking and playgrounds.
Officials of Ocean County stated the property will have the active use on one half of the park while the other half will be left alone.
Frank Scancarella, who lives in the Riverpointe 55+ Adult Community in Manchester, between Ridgeway Boulevard and South Chapel Road told The Manchester Times that he plans on attending this meeting and addressing the members of both the County and Manchester authorities.
He urged his fellow residents to attend the session and said he has several important matters to discuss during the forum that concern public safety.
“There are over 1,000 residents, most over the age of 55, living at Riverpointe and the safety of these residents is at stake,” Scancarella said.
He explained, “most of the residents are very active and do a lot of walking, running and bike riding. Many use Ridgeway Boulevard for this purpose. Ever since the County Maintenance Garage opened for commercial traffic a few years ago the amount of cars and large trucks traveling at speeds well above the posted speed limit has made this road a death trap.
“There are no sidewalks or even a walking path on this road and the walkers/bikers are using the three-inch-wide shoulder of the road to walk/bike/run on. It is just a matter of time before there is a catastrophic occurrence, either a serious injury or God forbid a death from being hit by a vehicle,” he added.
Scancarella noted that “there are no street lights on this road and it is pitch black dark at night. There are numerous instances of cars drag racing on this street. It’s a municipal road traveling right through the middle of county property.”
Other Manchester residents who wish to be heard but are unable to attend can submit their comments to Joseph A. Pirozek at 1198 Bandon Road, Toms River, NJ 08753. He can be reached by phone at 732-506-9090 ext. 5952.
It is requested that a copy of any comments made be mailed to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Transactions and Public Land Administration, Public Land Compliance Section, P.O. Box 420, Mail Code 401-07B, Trenton, NJ 08625-0420 or e-mailed to PublicLandCompliance@dep.nj.gov.
All comments by the public concerning this parkland transfer and proposed purpose change or use request will be accepted during the public hearing or until the conclusion of the public comment period on September 22. Ocean County could take final action to approve the park sometime after December 7.
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