Brooklake Residents Want No Part of Community Garden

Madison residents near the border Chatham Borough are voicing their opposition to a proposed community garden they feel will have a negative impact on their neighborhood and street.

The proposal would put along the Chatham side of Brooklake Road two­ garden plots that, once they are fenced in, will each take up a spot 95 feet by 130 feet. The plans also have a 45-by-120 parking lot with a 20-foot driveway sitting between the two proposed gardens. The property, which is owned by PSE&G and has power lines running through it, sits directly across the road from Madison residents on Brooklake Road.

Those residents say their concerns range from the traffic impact, to the aesthetic impact they believe the project will have.

"You wonder about the zoning, the property values, the congestion and the traffic now," Irene Knobloch of 30 Brooklake Rd. said. "And they are just taking the open space."

Knobloch and her husband Hank joined Rosemarie Frank of 34 Brooklake Rd. to speak about their displeasure with the project. Irene Knobloch said she feels as though the garden plots and the parking lot are more like a small farm than a garden.

Chatham Borough recently completed a contract with PSE&G to lease the land for the cost of $1 a year. That cost includes an existing community garden on the Chatham side of Division Avenue. The two plots and parking lot off of Brooklake Road is an expansion of that community garden project.

Chatham Borough Mayor Nelson Vaughan said he came to the Madison Borough Council meeting on July 26 to answer any questions residents had about the proposed expansion. He said he received what he felt was an unexpected welcome from those in attendance.

"We ran into three people who just didn't want any change," Vaughan said.

The Knoblochs and Frank were at the meeting where Vaughn, Chatham Community Garden Engineer Paul Suszczynski, and Garden Coordinator Marcy Wecker were in attendance. The meeting did not go far in smoothing any rift between the two sides, as Brooklake Road residents, led by Frank, strongly told the officials they did not want the garden. Chatham officials were not able to offer much of a response due to the amount and volume of the residents' comments, and when they did respond the comments did not appear to appease the Brooklake Road residents.

Their biggest concern, the three residents said, is that they wouldn't have had any idea about the project if Irene Knobloch didn't see Suszczynski on the PSE&G property early one day two weeks ago. Knobloch said Suszczynski told her he was hoping to do his work unnoticed.

Vaughan said he believes Brooklake Road residents were worried the lot would be used as a Park and Ride area for commuters. But Vaughan said that would likely not happen, and pointed out that a similar lot in front of the current community garden across the street is not used for those purposes.

"I really don't think they understood the concept at all," Vaughan said.

For now, Vaughan said, the borough is planning on moving forward with its plan to extend the garden's size. Organizers believe in the plan, and he said that seeing "flowers across the street, instead of an overgrown field which is barely ever cut, would be nice."

Hank Knobloch said the last thing he wants to see is a similar parking lot to the current one that exists at the corner of Main Street and Division Street across from his house.

"They want to put gravel down," he said. "Look at that lot–it's all torn up. It's dusty, It's filthy."

Wecker said she believes the concerns about the traffic impact of the parking lot are unfounded.

"Right now we only have 40 people that have plots (at the existing garden)," Wecker said. "There's only going to be a difference of 20 additional lots.

"There's only two to three cars at once ever that are in that garden parking lot."

She also said the activity is quiet, that there are no lights, they don't allow radio playing, and that there is no gardening at night.

There is also friction about why the gardens would be constructed in the proposed spot and not somewhere else. The community garden project is a joint Chatham Borough and Township project, but there are currently no plots in or directly adjacent to the township. The three Madison residents specifically cited how there was talk of putting the gardens on Spring Street near the Chatham Emergency Squad, but how the proposal was squelched by push back from residents.

"If they don't want it there, why do we want it?" Frank said.

They also want to know why Chatham Borough wants to put the gardens where it would directly abut both Madison and Chatham Borough residents. They believe there are spots that make more sense.

"They could go between Kings and Woodland Roads," said Hank Knobloch, who also wondered why the plots couldn't be placed directly next to the existing gardens on the Chatham Borough side of Division Street. "There are no houses along it like (on Brooklake Road). Maybe there is one house at the beginning of the lot, but that's about it."

The Brooklake Road residents said Chatham Borough has talked to them about giving them free plots in the gardens in return for building it across the road. Vaughn said he believes Chatham Borough has done what they can to smooth over the relationship.

"I think it's just kind of a blip," he said. "We did everything we could to chat with these ladies and talk to them and they just didn't listen."

The Knoblochs and Frank said they do not want any perks. They just don't want the garden.

"Put it on the other side where we can't even see it," Frank said. "Why do we have to have it here? 100 feet isn't that far; it's right there."

Borough Council members say they did not know about the community garden expansion or the unhappiness of the residents until the July 26 council meeting.

One question the residents have that was echoed by Mayor Mary-Anna Holden is if there was a possibility to have the entranceway to a parking lot come from a Chatham Borough side street instead of Brooklake Road, which is shared by both municipalities.

However, Holden, who is currently on vacation and doesn't currently have access to any new or soon-to-be passed documents by Chatham Borough, says she can't truly find the answer to or comment about that or any other questions she may have about the site.

"Without seeing plans, I can't really see if there is another opportunity to move the gardens more on the Chatham side and/or bring cars in off their side streets," Holden said.

Though having access from a side street such as Bartow Lane or Garden Place wouldn't change their stance on the issue, the Brooklake Road residents say the failure to consider such a step says to them Chatham Borough isn't thinking about their concerns in any form.

The residents have started a petition and say it hasn't been just Brooklake Road residents who are signing it and showing their concerns for the project. Irene Knobloch said she believes that part of the reason why they aren't seeing the reaction they would like from officials is because the area isn't in downtown Chatham Borough or Madison. The three residents wonder why they weren't told about the project, and also would have liked Chatham Borough to do a survey of the residents to see how welcoming they would be to the project.

"The town naturally cares about its central area; is their philosophy throw it at the end of town where nobody cares?" Hank Knobloch said. "They are residential; they live there. We have some nicer homes and people care for them. We just want to keep up the appearance."