Playing for keeps

Sparta - Just days after the district abandoned plans to build a new high school on part of Station Park, there is movement to make sure the community recreation field does not ever become an option for growth. The township council discussed this week presenting a referendum that would limit future development in Station Park to recreational use. The discussion came after a local non-profit sports organization expressed concern about a shortage of land reserved for outdoor athletics in Sparta. Councilman Scott Seelagy said the township should explore the possibility of presenting the question to the local taxpayers in the form of a Referendum.“This way, you keep local control and the people will have a greater say,” he said. Mayor Alish Hambel asked the township attorney to look into ways to protect the township-owned property from future development. But Tom Ryan, of Laddey, Clark and Ryan, said the land was purchased with open space funds, which now limit the options available to the council without voter approval. “You are limiting discretion of future councils down the line, but certain deeds can be used to restrict how new properties can be utilized,” he said. The president of the Sparta Soccer Club, Shawna Stanley, said space for athletic fields is at such a premium in the township that the door should not be left open at Station Park for a developer to “come in and say ‘what a nice place for a mall.’ ” “There is not much available land in Sparta,” said Stanley, whose program attracts more than 1,100 local boys and girls annually, as well as leagues for men and women. “My concern is that Station Park is a pretty important part of the town. Station Park is an important reason why people live in Sparta and I think it should be protected. We have to keep Station Park as a recreational facility.” A few months ago, the school board discussed building a new high school on land that comprises township soccer fields No. 1 and No. 2 in Station Park. The plan fell through last month when education officials stopped their pursuit with the Department of Environmental Protection to comply with building regulations at the Station Park site. “There are a lot of adults who I’ve been in touch with that said that if it looked like the school was going to build there (Station Park), we would have fought it,” said Stanley, who previously served on a district enrollment growth team that supported a failed-referendum to construct a new elementary school. “If I have 1,100-1,200 kids playing, think of all the parents they have. If they (the school board) started taking fields 1 and 2, they could start taking softball land.” Instead, the school board opted in January to approve a $73.3 million project to reconstruct the existing high school, which is nearby Station Park off Route 517 on Mountain Road. Officials expect to ask taxpayers to approve the reconstruction project in a public referendum in September. Earlier this month, Sparta education officials unveiled architectural floor plans for the 137,910 square-feet of additions. However, Councilman James Henderson said the school board still has the township’s permission to build on soccer fields No. 1 and No. 2 in Station Park. The Sparta Youth Football Association, which offers programs to more than 600 boys and girls ages 7 to 13 that make up nine football teams and 19 cheerleading squads, has gone back and forth with the township council in the past to gain greater access to practice fields in Station Park. In the past few years, the 30-year-old organization has squeezed players and cheerleaders into uncomfortable practice quarters near the library and on grounds in front and in back of the Mohawk Avenue School. As a short-term remedy, the association covered the entire $2,500 expense to install portable lights last year for one of the fields at Station Park, to accommodate games and practices for all teams. A member of the Sparta Girls Sports board of trustees said the organization primarily uses Ungerman and Memorial fields behind the library and off Route 183 near the center of town. But the local softball program for girls 16 and under has held larger tournaments that have attracted upwards of 80 teams from across the country at Station Park, said Andy Garger. “It’s always a challenge getting teams in softball on the field,” said Garger, who noted the group is working to improve conditions at Ungerman Field. “In a lot of towns, there is never enough space. That’s a pretty common issue.”