APPROVED Controversial Dam Site 21 plan gets unanimous vote from Mercer County Park Commission
WEST WINDSOR » Mission accomplished.
The Mercer County Park Commission voted 5-0 Wednesday night to happily approve the master plan for developing Dam Site 21.
The vote authorizes Park Commission Executive Director Aaron T. Watson to implement the $19 million improvement plan to transform the 280-acre ecological landscape into a more popular recreational crown jewel in the townships of Hamilton, West Windsor and Robbinsville.
Also known as Miry Run Ponds, Dam Site 21 is a scenic enclave of underdeveloped uplands, wetlands, woodlands and open space. The county-owned property also features a 50-acre lake, which will soon be home to a sweet kayak launch if and when the park commission installs a suite of new amenities to also include a tree canopy pathway, boardwalk, restrooms, spillway bridge, play area and other bells and whistles that may be financed by Mercer County’s Open Space Preservation Trust Fund and the New Jersey Green Acres program.
The green light to develop this greenspace, however, may encounter a potential hang up given the rising opposition to the park commission’s final master plan.
Friends of Dam Site 21, a growing opposition group, says the park commission’s final master plan for Miry Run Ponds is a costly waste of taxpayer dollars that would promote “unnecessary development” and
“cause the displacement of wildlife.” The group advocated minimal site improvements and promoted their so-called Friends of Dam Site 21 Alternative Plan — a “truly passive plan” for maintaining existing core trails well short of the $19 million masterpiece authored by Mercer County’s architectural partner, Simone Collins, a Pennsylvania-based landscape planning firm.
West Windsor Township Council passed a resolution Jan. 2 voicing opposition to the Dam Site 21 development plan.
“MCPC’s plan includes not only necessary improvements to the area including the planting of trees and elimination of invasive species, but also unnecessary development including the construction of a raised viewing bridge, various boardwalks, several new parking lots, access driveways, and maintenance buildings,” reads the West Windsor resolution. “[T]he unnecessary development would disturb the natural habitat of wildlife, woodlands, dam, lake, and trails, displacing wild animals into residential areas and changing the purpose and character from passive to active recreation.”
West Windsor Council also says the “unnecessary development would necessitate the destruction of naturally forested areas” at Dam Site 21.
The county may remove invasive plants at Dam Site 21 and develop areas for meadow restoration and forest restoration under the comprehensive master plan. That aspect of the master plan is largely deemed acceptable by community observers, but the opposition movement is primarily opposed to recreational aspects under the master plan, especially because Dam Site 21 is located in close proximity to Dam Site 20, a public space better known as Mercer County Park.
Another potential snag in the site-improvement plan is the explosive allegation that MCPC placed the cart before the horse.
New Jersey state law requires certain development blueprints to be presented to municipal planning boards for review in certain cases. Hamilton Township municipal planner Robert C. Poppert says state law in this case requires Mercer County Park Commission to present its Dam Site 21 master plan to the Hamilton Township Planning Board for review before the park commission may vote 5-0 independently to advance and implement the controversial land-use document.
The park commission met at its Mercer Oaks Golf Club facility Wednesday night to approve its
Dam Site 21 master plan despite the growing opposition. To be clear, the master plan also has a number of supporters, but the critics are more vocal and better organized in broadcasting their message through multiple communication channels, including email, substantive websites, lawn signs and word of mouth.
The affected municipalities may consider legal action against Mercer County if they hope to prevent Dam Site 21 from becoming a more recreation-friendly venue. Residents who live in the affected townships may also consider legal action.
Mercer County is familiar with court action and injunctions.
A Superior Court judge last month issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting Mercer County from implementing a controversial long-distance incarceration plan that would have transferred most of Mercer’s inmates 60 miles north in the Hudson County town of Kearny effective Jan. 1.
The New Jersey Public Defender’s Office, PBA Local 167 and Mercer correctional officer Winslow Land won the preliminary injunction after filing civil-action complaints saying the inmate-transfer plan was unsafe and unconstitutional. The injunction will remain in effect pending the outcome of that litigation.
The threat or possibility of legal action does not prevent Mercer County from conducting business as usual.
“The aims of the Mercer County Park Commission,” according to its mission statement, “shall be to provide recreation for all persons of all ages and creeds; to meet the recreational need as it exists and as it changes with the times; to serve, promote, encourage, and stimulate interests in leisure time activities for the benefit of the common wealth; to satisfy the general public at minimal cost with maximum recreational facilities, in keeping with the governmental functions; to preserve open space for the conservation of natural, historic, and scenic areas; to assist in programs dedicated to the preservation of wildlife; to participate in soil and water conservation projects; and to provide areas, facilities, personnel, finance, program, administration, and leadership to the betterment of man and woman.”
There are 37 single-family homes immediately adjacent to Dam Site 21, according to the Mercer County Park Commission. These property owners may benefit from the park-improvement plan.
A report published by the nonprofit Trust for Public Land in 2006 says: “Numerous studies have shown that parks and open space increase the value of neighboring residential property.”
The Mercer County Park Commission in 2018 issued a request for qualifications or RFQ seeking a “qualified firm” to design a “unique passive recreational park with a focus on the lake and water activities” at Dam Site 21.
“It is anticipated,” the park commission said in the RFQ, “that the new park improvements will cause public concerns from neighbors threatened by increased public use.”
The self-fulfilling prophecy quickly came to fruition, culminating Wednesday night with the park commission passing its Simone Collins-designed master plan to reshape Dam Site 21 into a more exciting haven for recreation.