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Hasbrouck Heights residents urge council to halt Miers Park pickleball court plan
Summary
Neighbors told the Hasbrouck Heights council Sept. 24 that planned pickleball courts at Miers Park would remove trees, eliminate a basketball court and bring disruptive “whacking” noise; borough officials said mitigation measures and a supervised, no‑lights policy are planned and proposed a follow-up meeting with residents.
Dozens of Hasbrouck Heights residents pressed the mayor and council on Sept. 24 to stop plans to install pickleball courts at Miers Park, saying the project would remove trees, eliminate an existing basketball court and create persistent noise that will disrupt adjacent homes.
Kristin Checchi of 230 Pasadena Avenue, speaking during the public comment period, said the yards facing the park have already lost trees and that the plan would leave neighbors looking out at a "10-foot chain link fence." She said she expects the frequent "whacking" sound from pickleball paddles would make the park unusable for her children and other neighborhood kids and that residents were not surveyed before the project moved forward.
The complaint echoed from other nearby residents. Tehreem Tahir of 234 Pasadena Avenue said he and his family moved to Hasbrouck Heights in part because of the park's green space and asked that it be preserved. Longtime resident Jim DiDonato of 221 Pasadena Avenue said he had watched generations of children use the park and urged the mayor to "do the right thing and stop this project." A resident identified only as Christina of 209 Pasadena Avenue also voiced opposition.
Councilman Robert Bing defended the overall renovation plan, saying the borough will add park improvements and plant 14 new trees. Borough Administrator Rob Brady said the design includes three tiers of sound mitigation — planting rows of arborvitae, installing dampening fiber on the fence, and supervised hours — and emphasized there will be "no lights, and it would be supervised so there would be no one playing early in the morning." Brady said those measures, along with keeping the park as green space, were intended to address neighbors' concerns.
Mayor Ron Kistner did not call for an immediate vote on the project. Councilman Michael Sickels asked to reopen the public comment period; the mayor instead proposed arranging a separate meeting with Pasadena Avenue residents to continue the discussion. No formal decision was made at the Sept. 24 meeting.
Next steps: borough officials said they will meet with concerned residents to discuss mitigation and the project timeline before returning the matter to a future council agenda.
