It was wonderful to read the editorial in the Trenton Times titled, “When it comes to the use of public spaces, everyone needs to listen,” which appeared online on May 10. (See www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/05/when_it_comes_to_the_use_of_public_spaces_everyone.html#incart_river).
Sadly, it starts out by saying the obvious: “One has to commiserate with Judy Goetz, who had to cancel plans to host the wedding of her niece in her newly landscaped backyard that abuts bucolic Mercer County Park in West Windsor.”
We are truly thankful for the editorial board’s thoughtfulness and it continues with some great points:
1. The issue of public spaces being at odds with private rights is an all too common occurrence.
2. There needs to be a dialogue among all parties involved to establish the ground rules for the operation of parks and other public spaces.
3. Residents need to know what to expect and officials have to know the limits placed on them.
4. If large crowds at concerts are intruding upon the quality of life for park neighbors, it is a situation that has to be resolved with the help of the freeholders, who set park policy.
5. Both sides have to listen to each other.
Unfortunately, South Post Road residents and the residential neighborhoods surrounding the park really do take the brunt of the increase in Mercer County Park’s activity, noise, and traffic congestion. Especially when they plan several events on the same day.
For several years now it has been a conundrum to get our issues resolved. We can’t fight this ourselves, but we have learned that only we can do it. We hope that our Mayor will step up to help us and schedule a meeting with the County Executive and his staff as soon as possible.
Teresa Lourenco
