Proposed County Park In Manchester Set For Public Hearing

MANCHESTER, NJ — A public Green Acres hearing is scheduled for Sept. 8 on a proposal to convert part of a 260-acre parcel along Ridgeway Road into active recreational use for a new Ocean County park in Manchester.

The hearing will be held at the Manchester branch of the Ocean County Library, 21 Colonial Drive (across the parking lot from Manchester Township Town Hall) and is set to begin at 7 p.m.

Plans for the park were first announced in 2018 by then-Ocean County Freeholder John C. Bartlett Jr., who had championed the county park system during his 39-plus years in office.

Manchester is set to transfer ownership of about 215 acres of land to Ocean County for the park, which also will include land the county has purchased from private owners. The entire site is roughly 260 acres, according to the hearing notice.

The land is subject to Green Acres rules because it was purchased with funds to preserve open space and prevent commercial or residential development. Green Acres rules require public hearings on a proposed change of use — in this case, from conservation to active and passive recreation.

"The Green Acres restrictions on the parkland will be transferred with the parkland and will run with the property in perpetuity," according to the hearing announcement by the county.

The park address is 3623 Ridgeway Road, but the park will occupy land on both sides of Ridgeway Boulevard, spanning Ridgeway Road from Route 547 (also known as South Hope Chapel Road) to the railroad tracks.

Proposed amenities included in the change in use include: athletic fields and courts, picnic pavilions, a spray park, playgrounds, hiking trails, a comfort station, maintenance yard and associated parking.

Ocean County officials have said the property will have the active use on one half and the other will remain untouched. Wetland touches feel.

Those who wish to comment but cannot attend the evening can submit comments to Joseph A. Pirozek at 1198 Bandon Rd. Toms River, NJ 08753; Phone: 732-506-9090 x5952. Please send a copy of any comments submitted to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Transactions and Public Land Administration, Public Land Compliance Section, P.O. Box 420, Mail Code 401-07B, Trenton, NJ 08625-0420 or to PublicLandCompliance@dep.nj.gov.

Public comment on this parkland transfer and proposed change in purpose or use request will be accepted during the public hearing or until the end of the public comment period on Sept. 22, 2022.

The county may take final action to approve after Dec. 7.