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Maplewood unveils Phase 2 park concept: playground redesign, rain garden and new entry plaza; residents press for restrooms, shade and accessibility
Summary
Designers proposed expanded playgrounds (2–5 and 5–12 areas), adaptive equipment, ADA picnic tables, a marked walking path and a rain garden; residents asked for more restrooms, tree canopy and accessible surfacing, and staff said some tree additions and design adjustments are possible while maintenance and funding remain unresolved.
Melissa Manuso, director of community services, said staff gathered about 400 responses to a community survey and used that feedback to shape Phase 2 priorities: expanded and more inclusive play areas, improved entrances and added passive amenities. “We got 400 robust participants,” Manuso said, and staff plan Phase 2 design to reflect community priorities.
Kurt Danielson, the project landscape architect with BHP, walked residents through conceptual renderings that show two distinct play zones (2–5 and 5–12), expanded swings including adaptive seats, shade structures, two viewing areas for the field and a Newark Way entrance with a low monument sign and landscaping. He described the playground surfacing as a porous rubberized safety surface that would drain to a rain garden: “the water just drains straight through and gets into the subsurface,” Danielson said, and the perimeter drain would pipe filtered runoff to a rain garden that will also serve educational and pollinator functions.
Several residents used the public‑comment period to raise site‑specific concerns. A nearby neighbor who identified themself as Da asked, “are there any plans to have more restrooms and maintained restrooms?” Staff replied that restroom cleaning and trash pickup are DPW functions and not part of the current plan set, but that the township would consider restroom access as it refines design and programming.
Another resident with young children urged more trees and a natural surface where possible, said shade is critical for summer comfort, and recommended integrating accessibility features such as ramps and small fences to protect children who run. The landscape architect acknowledged constraints from playground safety use zones but said trees can be added in some locations and explained planting and root‑zone strategies such as narrowing walkways, increasing soil volume and using deep‑root systems to support larger canopy trees.
Residents also pushed on maintenance tradeoffs: shade sails are a lower‑cost option but require seasonal removal and reinstallation that the township said it currently lacks the capacity to perform, so the concept favors more durable shade structures despite the higher cost. Danielson also confirmed the township will consider ADA compliance in sidewalks and picnic table selection and may reposition some existing exercise equipment rather than remove it.
On next steps, staff said the concept will be submitted to Green Acres for funding consideration and that refinements are expected as design progresses and based on funding outcomes; the township will present the plan again at the Feb. 17 Township Committee public hearing and continue to accept community input.
Materials and refreshments were available at the meeting close; staff said a recording and boards will be posted on the township website.
