While it may be rare to find the township’s parks filled with golfers over the winter, one might be hard pressed to find them there come spring as well.##M:[more]##
This is because an ordinance prohibiting golf in the township’s public parks, or any public open space, is up for introduction at the West Windsor Township Council meeting on Monday, December 8.
Township officials are citing safety hazards and residents’ complaints as the reason for prohibiting the practice. Recreation and parks division manager Ken Jacobs told the council during its November 24 meeting that the issue has become more of a problem, especially at Conover Park, which is closely located near private golf courses.
Jacobs said that golfers tend to come to the park with their own golf balls and practice hitting them as if they are on the range. “What’s happening is the balls are being left on the active recreational fields — the soccer fields and lacrosse fields — and there is the potential for participants to break their ankles if they step on the balls,” Jacobs said.
In addition, a golf ball can “become a projectile” if a township employee unknowingly runs one over while mowing the grass. “And if someone is walking by, and the mower goes over a golf ball, and it hits them, it can do a lot of damage,” he added.
Golf balls have also been to blame for damage to some of the portable light towers located on township fields because golfers have struck them with their golf balls, Jacobs said. And because it is hard to see the golf balls in the grass while mowing, the balls have caused some damage to equipment as workers run over them accidentally.
Jacobs also pointed out that there are nearby facilities, like Mercer Oaks, where someone can pay a small fee of a few dollars to hit balls at the range, and they do not have to retrieve them when they are done. Princeton Country Club also has a range where golfers can bring their own balls, he added. “It’s not like we have a lack of golf practice facilities in the township,” he said. Neighbors nearby have also complained that people have been hitting balls into their yards and then have gone onto their properties to retrieve them.
The township’s general ordinance penalties would apply to rulebreakers.
Appelget Farm Preservation. In other business during the council’s November 24 meeting, the council introduced a $787,”500 bond ordinance to acquire the development rights of the 8.36-acre Appelget Farm on Conover Road. The public hearing is scheduled for Monday, December 8.
