PART XII

Teaneck Establishes a Park System (Cont.)

Special attention was given those sections of the Township where future development promised greater congestion. In these districts the choice of sites was less difficult as the Township owned many plot which through trades could result in suitable park areas. The locations selected for the neighborhood parks were subject to seven major considerations:

(1) Site already acquired or plots consolidated for park purposes; (2) As equitable a distribution of the sites geographically as possible; (3) The purposes for which each plot would probably be used; (4) The character of the sites as affecting nearby realty values, and influencing the development of the surrounding unimproved areas; (5) The cost of sites to the Township from the viewpoint of their retirement from the tax rolls; (6) The preservation of trees; and (7) The possibilities for further expansion and development as opportunity permits or necessity demands.

The wooded parcel of land bordering Route 4 east of Garrison Avenue was obtained as a park by a special arrangement with the state which owns the property. Here the highway offered too great a danger to contemplate the use of this ground for playground purposes.

Ammann Park Outstanding

The outstanding park of the system for beauty and variety of its facilities is the Edward Ammann Memorial Park, situated between Lees Avenue and Teaneck Road, and south of Fort Lee Road. It was deeded to the Township in the Ammann will to be used for park purposes. By virtue of a stream that flows across its southern end, an unusual opportunity was presented for landscaping. The result is the work of Michael Burris, now chairman of the County Planning Board, and many a camera enthusiast has recorded its picturesque qualities regardless of the season of the year.

Many of the areas suggested for development in the Board's report, which was presented to the Township Council in January 1940, have since blossomed into playing fields. These include the park bounded by Belle Avenue and the West Shore Railroad north of Beatrice Street, and the Tryon Park at Van Courtlandt Terrace and Intervale Road. Subsequently, the Council purchased from the Phelps Estate a tract of approximately 11 acres between Wilson Avenue and River Road and west of Cumberland and Sagamore Avenues.

Consider River Valleys 

With a keen vision for the future, the Advisory Board on Parks considered the Hackensack River Valley and the Overpeck Creek Valley as important elements in any far reaching program for Teaneck's parks. In spite of the delays in the postponement of the trunk sewer plans contemplated at that time, the Board expressed the opinion that trunk sewers offered the only practical solution for the future use of the banks of both the Hackensack River and the Overpeclc Creek. The report recommended the Council to take all necessary action for the retirement of all Township-owned property along the banks of both waterways. The prospects of incorporating this waterfront into a County park system, developed with County funds and maintained at County expense, was also considered.

Mr. Andreas' Gift 

Interest was revived in these waterfront strips recently when Mr. and Mrs. Frederic Andreas deeded their 4-acre home, bordering on the Hackensack to the Township for use as a park. The agreement accorded the Andreases the use of the property for the remaining years of their lives. Mr. Andreas, for many years chairman of the Township Planning Board, served as its secretary when the Master Plan of the Township was adopted, and this generous gift of his home to a cause for which he has labored so long is a noble climax to a career of civic service.

Most of the properties selected for park sites were situated in localities not considered too desirable for residential purposes. These included, in addition to the swampy tract converted into Central Park, the strips that lay along the railroad right-of-way, the park at York Place where a small lake exists, and various playground sites located on filled land. The nature of these properties made it questionable if houses built on them would yield to the Township a return greater than what would be realized by the improvement of the area for the general enhancement of realty values in the district. 

Of the 126.2 acres recommended for development by the Board, 110.2 acres were already owned by the Township, leaving but a small portion to be acquired. At that time the program represented one acre of parks for each 200 people. To compare this ratio with other towns, the Committee found that park areas range as low as 6 1/2 acres in Lackawanna, N. Y., where one acre is provided for 3,700 population, to high of 720 acres in Ithaca, or about one acre for each 30 people.

In proposing a financial policy for the development of the parks, the Committee recommended an annual appropriation of $1.00 per capita., or about $25,000 per annum (the approximate population figure in 1939.) This amount was included in the Township budget for 1939 and represented about 1.8 percent of the whole budget. On a $200 tax bill, it amounted to $3.60, and on a $150 tax bill, only $2.70.

Further recommendations by the Board included suggestions as to how the park system could be developed, staffed and administered. Trades were urged, by which the Council could proceed with the acquisition of the parcels not owned, a method permitted a municipality by law. Since the tracts selected for parks had been least desirable as marketable properties, and had been virtually suspended from realty possibilities, their retirement from the tax rolls imposed no hardship on the taxpayers. On the other hand. properties in districts possessing more favorable realty potentialities, and then owned by the Township, could be revitalized through trades where no cash appeared available to purchase them. 

A supervisor of recreation was proposed to head a staff of supervisors to direct the activities of the small neighborhood playgrounds. This idea was instituted a few years ago and Teaneck now enjoys a program of  recreation directed to the health growth of its future citizen.

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