Thank you for your letter regarding past and future events and noise levels at Mercer County Park. I appreciate the fact that our neighbors on South Post Road communicate with me and my staff regularly. The communications cover a diverse number of topics and there are certainly many different points of view. As you noted in your letter, the Park Commission is responsive and aims to please.
You wrote me five years ago almost to the day on this very subject. My answer then is similar to what my response is now. While we do offer a number of diverse family-oriented events at the park we are never in violation of any of West Windsor’s ordinances. We don’t do many events that go into the night (only two events go until 11 p.m. the entire year) and we closely monitor the events’ noise output. The events we hold at this time do not come close to the maximum decibel level in the ordinance. We have also reduced the hours for night softball and basketball significantly.
It is true that this year we will complete phase two of our festival grounds that will include a plaza in front of the skating rink (making the area much safer for pedestrians and adding trees, a rain garden, benches, and lighting), two formal entrances into the festival grounds, and finally, a permanent stage. There will also be security lighting and an electronic message board at the stage for public service announcements and information. The stage location is more than 1/4 of a mile from South Post Road, as far away as possible. The direction of the stage was selected after consultation with engineers, architects, and events specialists who looked at the direction of the sun, power sources, the content and preferred layout of the events that we have traditionally hosted for over 10 years.
In conclusion, please know that prior to hosting any of our events I can assure you the impact that they will have on our South Post Road neighbords will be heavily considered in each and every case. There are always ways that we can imrpove, and we can always work together to address your concerns.
Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.
Kevin B. Bannon
Executive Director
