Monday, July 11, 2011

Tall fences make good nature preserves

From the Times Ledger:

Construction on the Ridgewood Reservoir is in full swing, which pleased some park-goers but continued to enrage community activists.

...one contentious change will be the new fence that is set to replace the chain link barrier that currently surrounds the reservoir.

The new fence will be about 4 feet tall instead of the nearly 8-foot version and has generated friction between the city Parks Department and Community Board 5. Representatives from the board believe the fence is too short and would allow curious explorers unencumbered access to the nature preserve.

“I can step over a 4-foot fence,” said Steve Fiedler, chairman of the board’s Parks Committee. “We want a deterrent.”

People already slip into the reservoir through the dilapidated, porous fence to sleep, consume alcohol, do drugs or even stage paintball matches, he said.

“There is no security there, no cops,” Fiedler said. “It’s a free-for-all.”

But Parks said the shorter fence will allow visitors to actually see the foliage.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Someone is either going to be a crime vitim,or die accidentally.They will then sue the city for a large sum of cash. Then the city will tear down the small fence and replace it with the appropriate high securityfencing.After all is said and done,it will cost taxpayers millions.We need to vote all these incompetent,common sense lacking pols out!