Overpeck Park Section IV Design
Overpeck Park is a beautiful addition to our community. This land was donated by Leonia to Bergen County in the 1950's. And while it took decades to create the parkscape as you see it today, it is a huge improvement over what was once a dumping ground and a junkyard. The entrance to town from the West is now vastly improved with a rolling lawn and parkland on both sides of Fort Lee Road. Designing a park that serves the best interests of Leonians requires the input of local Leonia officials working hand in hand with the County.
Despite all of this good work there are occasional hiccups. Leonia has very recently implored the County not to move so fast on Overpeck Park IV. Unfortunately, the County has inexplicably removed over 100 trees from this section during prime bird nesting season and has proceeded with capping operations involving hundreds of dump trucks on local Leonia streets which have increased noise and traffic congestion. The design of Section IV as it was originally presented by Bergen County officials was wholly viewed as inconsistent with the desires of our local community.
As a result, I drafted the attached resolution for the Leonia governing body’s consideration and urged its approval. I’m pleased to say the resolution passed unanimously and was distributed as requested to all other area towns and our County Executive, County Commissioners and all the other towns in our area who, like Leonia, had donated land which became Overpeck Park. I asked the County to take “a time out” to “hit the pause button, share current plans with the community, solicit input and change course to be more consistent with what a majority of the public thinks is the best way to go”.
The County has formally responded and will form a committee to determine a final plan. We need to make sure the right Leonia representation is on that committee. I am pleased the county referred to the project’s design now as a ‘blank canvas’ which essentially disregards whatever design work had taken place previously, without public participation, and allows the new design to better reflect the community’s input.
When the committee is formed, I expect residents will push for a design with more trees and wildlife and fewer grassy areas or paved pathways. This is a big step in the right direction. Forming the committee and holding information sessions where the public can weigh in will be important to the success of a project that can be embraced by all.
This issue was also covered by northjersey.com and is available to read for subscribers of the site.