Um, can't we just leave some areas completely untouched?!?! Hate to sound like an illogical Scrooge, but don't our kids have enough parks? And not only here in Mahwah but in our surrounding towns too. Plus, our kids can expand their circle of friends to beyond our borders like we did as kids.

I vote we save the tax dollars for something a tad more important... Like a stellar educational experience which will mean much more down the road than mini parks being ignored as our kids (and me too) are playing with the latest and greatest gizmo.

This will be interesting to follow.

I would rather have more mini parks vs more houses/condos. When the real estate market turns around again like it was several years ago, the town allowed the expansion at a feaverish rate and they were squeezing hugh houses on small pieces of property. More mini parks would help the community.

I think Mahwah has more parks than the town I had growing up in did. Between the parks and the school playgrounds that residents freely use after school hours, I think we have plenty of playground equipment. Instead, I think it is important as a town to not let these existing play area/parks fall into disrepair. I was just at the playground at Winter's Park, and although some of the equipment has been repaired (there were some serious dangers there last year) now the fence is falling apart including the gate. Also the benches are all splintering and need to be sanded and repainted. Plus the safety mulch there seems dangerously low and broken down.
I think I would rather see some money put into the recreation/snack bar of the Town Pool. I keep reading articles about how membership is down but nothing is really done to the facilities to attract people to join the pool. Also, it would be nice to have undeveloped patches to wander in the township. Maybe a small wildflower meadow, small nature trails. Why does every patch of land have to be built on or developed as a park or ball field? Let Mahwah's Parkland just be.

I am a HUGE fan of this. I live in the Ridge Gardens complex off of Ridge Road. I have a toddler and we don't have a playground. There is nowhere close by that I can take her for no charge. Darlington is the closest and it will be very crowded come the summer.

Last decade, the mayor promised the Homeowners Associations at Ridge Gardens, Society Hills Villages I and II and Darlington Ridge, that the property the town bought on Ridge Road would be used for a park for the children and adults and seniors on the upper portion along Ridge Road. Forums were held with the Boards of the Condos and the idea was enthusiastically supported.
Here we are years later, no park, and absolutely NO plans for one. The children in the Homeowners Association play in the streets, no b-ball courts, no place for skateboarding, no walking trails, etc.

It's high time that the Town consider honoring their promise for what the parcel of land was purchased by the Town for in the first place.

My other pet peeve is the lack of foresight with street construction/improvement projects. Now that the town is fully developed, it's time to turn it from "rural" (where you needed your car to drive a mile to get to the next neighborhood) to "residential", (where at least ONE side of every street has a sidewalk, typically the other side then has utility poles). I see kids walking to their school bus stops for a block or two or even waiting for their school bus ON busy street corners because we allowed houses to be built everywhere but didn't plan on how to WALK from house to house!

And we're not even FIXING it. Every time I see streets being improved and new curs added, the results are lanes wide enough to allow 3+ cars to fit side by side easily (and we wonder why cars are able to speed!, instead of taking 4 feet, turning it into a sidewalk and with that slow down the traffic.

We have enough parks already. These cost tax money to maintain. We need more large trees all around town to get back to the country atmosphere that was here when I moved to Mawah over 25 years ago. We just allow mature trees to die, and don't replace them. It is also known that tree sprouts are being eaten by the deer, and not allowed to mature and replace our forests. Therefore, we need to do more to replace the treescape that we once had.

I'm thinking money can be used to a much better purpose for the existing parkland areas. We have two bridges out at Lake Henry (one completely gone) and I would love to see some improvements at Ramapo Reservation in terms of pathway renewal and installation. Lake Henry is impossible to walk around now. Let's take care of the large forested areas we have now first.

What ever happened to kids playing in their own backyards also?

After living in Arizona for a few years, I was spoiled by the greenbelts and playgrounds each neighborhood had. Since these were all new communities it was easy to incorporate 'play areas', I just don't know how it would work here. It would be sad to see the woods cut down to have play areas put in though. There are no "woods" in the desert area of AZ. Growing up in Mahwah we spent more time playing in the woods than on a playground. Also, who would cover the costs? In AZ we had homeowner associations and our payments to them would cover maintaining the greenbelt/playground areas.

If you reconfigure for other things or put a playground in the park at the intersection of Airmount Rd and Airmont Ave it would probably be used more often by the locals there. As far as I'm concerned, that local park is severely underutilized except when there is something going on at the two fields, other then those occasions, every time I pass it, no one is there. Granted it's a little hard for kids to get there unless they are driven because of the two very busy roads and no sidewalks, and that should be a major concern for more local parks like this (as someone above mentioned), if you don't build them where kids can walk or bike to them what good are they? Mahwah neighborhoods are not really walking friendly in most parts. I'd imagine any park started from scratch would be upwards of a half million dollars at least. Just modifying the town square (Veterans Park) was more than a couple hundred thousand dollars for what was done, and I think were talking about local parks with a little more substance right? If not, why bother?

More money parks, is like it..... didnt these Bergen Republicans call for cut, cut, cut, cut,,,, so cut the parks funding, EMS funding and dissolve the Mahwah Police into the County Police,,,,, isnt that what the crew wanted????? When is the Mayor going to cut our taxes??? Hes a businessman..

Personally, I have been hoping that the "water tower property" on mahwah road was left as is after the tower was dismantled. The entire neighborhood feels that the property is an asset to the neighborhood just as it is. We dont need swings or slides on it. But we would like to keep it as open space here. We love to visit and ride our bikes there and explore and pick raspberries and blackberries and mulberries. I think this space is a prime candidate for a "small park" but no need to build it - just leave as is for us to enjoy as we have been for many years. There was the threat some time ago of it being sold to developers who would put a few houses on the property, but everyone in the neighborhood agrees that it would be best put to use leaving it just as it is! We are prepared to fight any development if that issue arises again. I think we all agree that what we really want, is to preserve these open spaces. but we dont necessarily have to turn them into parks with equipment. we love them just the way they are!

It seems that most people think a park has to include playground equipment. That is not the case. You can have "passive recreation" areas for people of all ages to enjoy - a place for kids to run around in or for adults to read a book, take a walk, and just enjoy the outdoors. I would love to see an area that allows dogs as well. There is no park in town where dogs are welcome. Perhaps an actual dog park would be an option. Creating or preserving open spaces is always a good thing.

Andy Schmidt wrote:
"Same in NJ. If you purchase a property in a condominium or townhouse or similar community - some gated - then your homeowners association can decide to preserve certain areas as greenbelts or install and maintain playgrounds, pools, tennis courts, etc. Or, you can choose to purchase a free-standing home - in which case your "homeowners fees" are called "property taxes" <G>"

Well, Andy, FYI, condo owners not only pay maintenance fees but PROPERTY TAXES, just like single family owners, based on recently done evaluations.

And furthermore, the property in the McBride Industrial park between Ridge Rd and MacArthur Rd, was SPECIFICALLY purchased for a park and/or rec facilities.
Condo owners had absolutely NO say in how the Town allowed the builders to develop a property, thus, none of them have space for a "park" let alone for a B-Ball court etc., nor are zoned for such.
The Town and mayor at the time promised....that was a decade ago. Where's our Park!!!!

All this talk of new parks is essentially moot at the moment since the council has shelved this suggestion (as stated in the last paragraph of this blog), which I agree should be shelved, and they can now move on to more pressing issues which I won't bring up in this thread.

I used to play sandlot baseball games at the water tower up on mahwah road when I was a kid. I grew up on Miller road and it was a short walk to the water tower.we played there for hours! No swings or development needed. Just leave it as open space to enjoy. I was sad to see the tower go.

how about a dog run?

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