Softball Players Told To Abide By The Rules

On just about any given day of the week in the springtime, Clarkstown's public baseball and softball fields are filled with a wide variety of youth and adult teams, keeping town officials busy trying to meet all the local demands for playing time.

But with the requests for field use permits growing every year, town officials say they don't have enough fields for all the people who want to play in Clarkstown. As a result, town recreation officials are taking a closer look at applications to ensure that leagues seeking use of town fields are eligible for permits.

Members of one Rockland County adult softball league say they have been caught up in this new scrutiny and are having trouble gaining access to fields they have used for decades.

At issue is a town Recreation and Parks Department rule that requires adult softball leagues playing on town fields to have at least 60 percent Clarkstown residents on their team rosters. Parks Superintendent Jo Anne Pedersen said this long-standing rule is designed to make sure town residents are getting access to their own fields.

For the 2010 season, players in the 350-member Rockland Senior Sunday Morning Softball League say their league is now about 40 percent Clarkstown residents. As a result, there is a dispute over whether the league can have the same access it has had for years to fields at Congers Lake Park and Kings Park in Congers and Lake Nanuet in Nanuet.

The league's members play on fields in all five Rockland County towns and in Tuxedo in Orange County, according to member Angelo Basso of New City. The league's teams play one game a week, on Sundays from about 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., with its players all being over age 35.

"The teams are basically groups of friends who have come together to have some fun playing softball," Basso said.

Basso and fellow player and New City resident Jordan Toder asked members of the Town Board during a workshop session Tuesday if they would consider allowing their league to continue using the three Clarkstown fields even though the league has fallen below the 60 percent residency requirement. Basso suggested the league be given a grace period to either address the residency issue or try to find other fields.

"I think we have been good citizens for the years we have used the fields," Basso said, noting that the league members did not want to falsify team rosters to make it appear they met the residency requirement.

Pedersen said four other leagues have submitted permit applications seeking use of the same fields used by the Sunday morning league. She noted that with the increased demand, her department had decided it will do follow up checks on leagues to make certain the leagues do meet requirements for field permits – and that their rosters have the correct percentage of Clarkstown residents.

Town Board members Tuesday made it clear they didn't want to change the field usage rules. Councilman Frank Borelli said he supported the residency requirements as a way of keeping fields accessible to town residents.

Clarkstown Supervisor Alex Gromack suggested the Sunday morning league continue working with the Recreation and Parks Department staff to come up with a plan that would give the league at least some access while still complying with the town's rules.

Pedersen also suggested the league members and its officials could possibly gain access for at least some of it teams.

"We're Clarkstown residents and we've been using the fields for years," said Toder. "I hope we can continue using them."

Hank Heitner of Tallman, the Sunday league's commissioner, said the league has been long been pleased with the Clarkstown fields it uses.