Supervisors Approve Fence at Skate Park

In a move to mitigate complaints of after hours trespassing at the municipal Skate Park, the Newtown Township Board of Supervisors on Wednesday approved the installation of a chain link fence at the park.

The fence comes at no cost to the township, thanks to two local businesses who stepped up to donate it after hearing about some of the concerns regarding the park.

According to Newtown Township Parks and Recreation Director Kathy Pawlenko, Princeton Brain and Spine, which has an office on Newtown-Langhorne Road, and The Law School Admissions Council contacted the township with a desire to donate specifically towards a fence at the park. The cost of the fence will be under $10,000 Pawlenko said.

The Skate Park has garnered local attention within the last few months, after it was closed in March due to noise complaints from residents of the Tyler Walk community.

It reopened in early June after the township implemented noise reduction measures, including spray foam and enclosures.  But some Tyler Walk residents were not fully satisfied, saying they suspected skaters were trespassing after hours.

“In speaking with residents, I get the feeling that they would be at ease if we did have a better way to control the hours,” Pawlenko said.

However, cost was an issue and action on the matter during the board’s June meeting failed to progress for financial reasons.

Even still, with cost no longer a concern after the news of the donation, not all board members supported the concept and the measure passed by a 3 to 2 vote, with Phillip Calabro and Mike Gallagher voting no to the fence.

“If we’re building a fence to keep a bad element out, I don’t think that’s a proper use because bad elements can get through a fence,” Calabro said. “I hate to see the skate park fenced in because I think skaters themselves are free spirits and, to me, will feel like they are caged in.”

Calabro also took issue with the fact that the fence would be locked when the park was not open. He noted it would be the only park in the township with a fence that locks and questioned the message that would send to skaters.

Gallagher said he didn’t think a fenced-in park would fit in in the township. He said as a kid growing up in the city, fenced-in parks were not a positive reflection on that neighborhood.  “Even though it is at no cost to the township, I’m struggling with driving around the corner and seeing a fenced-in park,” he said.

But Board Chair Rob Ciervo said as a former skater himself, he was never opposed to visiting parks that were fenced in.

“I certainly don’t view it as we’re caging kids in,” Ciervo said. “It’s not like we’re putting up barbed wire. It’s going to be a simple chain link fence.”

Ciervo said growing up, he visited many skate parks and most were fenced in. “As a kid, you were just excited that you were going to a new park. I never once stopped to think that there was fencing there.”

Board Vice Chair Matt Benchener commended the community for its role in supporting the Skate Park. Between the initial funding to build it, to the donation of sound mitigation materials, and now the fence, local residents and businesses have stepped up on this issue, he said. “It just shows the power of this community,” Benchener said.