Bellhaven Remediation Takes First Step

The project began with good intentions. When the borough took over a small parcel of land on the west side adjacent to the river less than a decade ago it envisioned a natural oasis of indigenous plant life, complete with a boardwalk and scenic trail system.

Today, Bellhaven Park is little more than a nighttime hangout for shady characters and a haven for criminal activity, borough officials and residents living in the neighborhood say. Red Bank wants to change that.

At a recent council meeting, borough Engineer Christine Ballard was given the okay to pursue grant funding from the county Board of Chosen Freeholders in the amount of $250,000 – a figure Red Bank would have to match – to rehabilitate the Locust Avenue property.

Though a decision on whether or not the borough will get any of the open space grant funding won’t be decided until the end of the year, there’s already a fight among residents on how best to use the money. Some want to see the park become the nature reserve the State Department of Environmental Protection planned while others want to see it turned into a recreation park, able to be utilized by children living on the west side.

One plan presented by Red Bank is to turn the reserve into a small-scale water park geared to young children. Turning the property into any kind of park for children on the west side is considered ideal because of the lack of such a facility within reasonable walking distance.

“There’s a need in that area for waterfront access for children, a way to combine both the nature of the shoreline and active recreation,” Ballard said, noting that the idea came following meetings with the Red Bank Parks and Recreation Department.

With residents lobbying in equal numbers for a park that caters to children and continuation of the natural reserve theme, Mayor Pasquale Menna took the opportunity to waylay all fears by saying that the discussion was all “very hypothetical” and that no determination had been made. If and when the borough receives grant funding, then discussions will begin in earnest about what to do with the property.

What’s clear, however, is that something indeed needs to be done. Council President Art Murphy, the borough’s police commissioner, said there’s plenty of trouble at the site on a near-regular basis. Because of an overgrowth of an invasive species of plant, the tall-growing phragmite, visibility at the site is low making it hard to patrol and easy for some to make trouble.