Possible rail station KOs planned site for dog park
BY KATHY BARATTA
Staff Writer

MANALAPAN - When township officials got a letter from the Monmouth County Planning Board recently it was a good news-bad news communication.

Bonnie Goldschlag, the assistant director of the Planning Board, told Mayor Andrew Lucas in a letter that the county loves the idea of a planned municipal dog park, but has a problem with the proposed site for the facility.

She suggested that officials find a different location for the dog park since the targeted site of the Village Green on Route 522 near Tennent Road could eventually be used as the site of a passenger rail station if plans for a central New Jersey passenger train line come to fruition.

In a letter dated Feb. 2, Goldschlag wrote that "Planning staff is concerned about this location because it is the same site that Manalapan has chosen as a station for the proposed Monmouth, Ocean, Middlesex passenger rail line.

"Staff is concerned that once the dog park is established on the Village Green site, the public will be reluctant to relocate the park when the rail station is slated to be built. It can also affect future opportunities and uses that can be incorporated into the station design."

Goldschlag offered to assist officials in selecting a new location for the dog park.

Rebecca Ginsberg, who is the head of a Recreation Advisory Board steering committee that is overseeing the planned development of the dog park, said that while she was "bummed by the announcement," she and the rest of the board will wait for further direction from the Township Committee.

She noted that plans already exist for the development of Thompson Grove Park in the southern end of Manalapan.

Lucas said the committee will revisit the matter in the near future.

Officials estimate there are 2,300 licensed dogs in Manalapan.

Ginsberg has described the dog park as a place where visitors would be able to bring a dog and allow it to run off-leash within a fenced-in area. The project is estimated to cost between $75,000 and $100,000.

Ginsberg said businesses and individuals would be approached to help offset some of the costs by sponsoring parts of the facility or purchasing items such as benches.