WIDE OPEN: This land, which is close to Olive Garden on Stafford Park Boulevard, was most recently recognized by the township council as a possible location for the addition of sports or recreational facilities. It will take some time, though, to go through the formal land acquisition procedure. (Images courtesy of David Biggy)
Over the last ten to fifteen years, a number of locals have expressed their wishes for more sports and recreational facilities in Stafford Township. Choose from the many and diverse ideas on the list.
rink of ice. pool. park for skateboarding. YMCA. Pickleball. center for recreation. Softball or baseball fields indoors. indoor track. Everything said above and more. These and other concepts have occasionally been discussed with township officials and circulated in different circles.
Finding a place to put one has been the largest obstacle to the planning of any such facility. There aren’t many huge properties in Stafford, at least not those that are owned by the township. The majority of those enormous places are either owned by commercial or residential developers.
Township Administrator Matthew von der Hayden stated, “We receive a lot of input from the community, and one thing we keep hearing is that we need more recreation space.” However, we need the room to carry out some of the things that people want us to implement. The primary problem has always been that.
The problem of how the township can build more sports or recreational facilities for the benefit of future generations, however, may have been partially resolved by Stafford officials.
The township council approved a $2.3 million bond agreement late last year to pay for the $2,185,000 purchase price and related expenses of the property at 302 Doc Cramer Blvd., just west of BJ’s Wholesale Club, across from the Ronald L. Meinders Primary Learning Center north of McKinley Avenue.
The council recently approved an ordinance on first reading on February 1st, which, if approved at the next meeting on March 4th, would initiate the process of purchasing another sizable piece of land in the Stafford Park section. This land is situated at 244 and 246 Stafford Park Blvd., and it encircles the Olive Garden restaurant across from the Stafford Park shopping center. In order to purchase the space, the council is requesting that about $5.5 million be allocated.
According to von der Hayden, the Doc Cramer property is about nine acres in size. The 14-acre Stafford Park property is surrounded by large, potentially very profitable properties.
Well, this is where the fun starts, to paraphrase a particular Jedi from the Star Wars universe.
During the December and January sessions, several members of the skating community definitely took note of the first site Stafford was looking to buy and seized the opportunity to express their enthusiasm for a brand-new, top-notch skate park to the council. A few weeks ago, another advocated for one as well.
GET AFTER IT: The township council recently made this property at 302 Doc Cramer Blvd. the center of a purchase plan. Once it is formally purchased, it will be designated for some sort of recreational space.
There must be a public hearing on the ordinance before the council votes on it, and as the council considers adding each piece of land to the discussion, residents’ conversations and wish lists will probably grow.
Mayor Robert Henken and von der Hayden have informed all interested parties that they will have the chance to further present their ideas at a future workshop. It’s unclear when that will happen.
According to von der Hayden, “the introduction and passing of any ordinances means we’re just starting the process of looking into getting the properties.” The township doesn’t even now own the Doc Cramer property, and there are many steps involved in the process of actually buying them. We are barely halfway through the process of making a purchase.
An ordinance must first sit for 20 days before the municipality can take any action. Before officials may take action to complete the purchase, additional assessments and certain reports must be performed, filed, and approved in the case of property acquisitions. According to the administrator, if all goes according to plan and nothing is overlooked, these procedures could take months to finish.
We don’t own the properties until they are truly bought and formally acquired, until we sign the paperwork and move in, von der Hayden stated. And until we have them, which may still be months away—possibly into the later spring, summer, or even fall—nothing will happen. The purchase procedure isn’t closed until it is.
Following the signing of the dotted lines on purchase contracts, the next step is a workshop where residents, members of organizations, school officials, and others can share their ideas about what they would like to see happen within those property lines. This is followed by a number of meetings with governing officials and township staff.
According to von der Hayden, there are three main groups: the public, employees, and the governing body. For every property, we must first devise a layout that will work well in the available space. As of right present, there are no restrictions on what can be placed in these areas. Additionally, depending on the input and how it is framed, there can be chances to finance it via a variety of methods, such as grants, corporate partnerships, or other arrangements.
However, there are still all the other problems that need to be resolved, and I’m already considering them. What role does what is being suggested play in the community? Which materials are involved and may require ongoing maintenance? What impact will it have on our township employees and emergency services? How may these initiatives be responsibly incorporated into the capital plan? Is it possible to find alternate funding sources for all or part of it? Ultimately, it all boils down to the feedback we receive from all sources.
We’ve never done anything where we have a brilliant idea and then it just shows up. We don’t handle these things that way.
The ultimate deciding factor is the total cost of completing whatever the desire list motivates.
According to von der Hayden, everything begins with a vision. A vision must come first, followed by a written strategy, after which you begin to figure out how to make it a reality. It always boils down to what you’re specifically attempting to accomplish and whether you have the money to do it. But it will take time for everything to come together, regardless of what the township decides to do with these sites.
David Biggy
The email [email protected]
