Chyzowych Field Is Not for Sale

Informal conversations between Maplewood and South Orange over the sale of Chyzowych Field have come to a close with no transaction planned, according to officials from both towns.

Maplewood Mayor Vic DeLuca said that no official action of either governing body was taken in requesting or offering a sale of the property.

On Oct. 19, the News-Record reported that there was some discussion between the Village of South Orange and the Township of Maplewood over the possible sale of Chyzowych Field by South Orange to Maplewood. South Orange Trustee Howard Levison had told the News-Record, "At the right price, we'll sell it to them."

Although the field is located in Maplewood off West Parker, it is owned by the Village of South Orange. The field is mainly used by the Cougar Soccer Club and sometimes by Columbia High School, according to Maplewood Township Committeeman Jerry Ryan. Because it is located in a flood plain, any development would be problematic, but Maplewood officials said they had wanted to maintain the property as a sports field.

Ryan said that he believes the ownership of the field dates to the time when South Orange's water came from wells inside South Orange and the town wanted to protect the land around the wells. Ryan notes that there is still an old block house in the far corner of the property that he believes protects an old wellhead.

Ryan also says that Maplewood once used the area for leaf composting; however, that practice had stopped by the early '90s. During the time when Ryan was mayor of Maplewood (between Jan. 1, 1998 to Dec. 31, 2000), there were discussions about Maplewood buying the property from South Orange.

"We actually were fairly closed to buying it," said Ryan, but the deal fell through in the late stages in 1999. "They changed their mind at the last minute," said Ryan, referring to South Orange elected leadership at the time.

Ryan says he resurrected the idea of purchasing the property again because of issues of maintenance and the discussions. Ryan says that, this time around, the two towns had gotten as far as discussing procuring an appraisal of the property. However, on Nov. 1, Ryan received an email from South Orange Trustee Nancy Gould stating, "The BOT has decided that we are not going to proceed with selling Chyzowych to Maplewood."

Following a telephone discussion, Ryan feels that the discussions may have fallen through this time due to South Orange's concerns about liability due to possible contamination. When contacted directly by Patch, Village Trustee Nancy Gould declined to comment.

"We're back to square one in terms of still having a property in Maplewood that needs maintenance and improvement," said Ryan.

"Even if we don't own the property, Maplewood would still be interested in having a discussion with South Orange on participating in the maintenance and improvements at the field."