Morristown plans to scrap Lidgerwood Park pickleball courts that cost the town more than $132,000 to build, and start from scratch at an undisclosed location.
That news emerged Tuesday at a council meeting where homelessness also got a lot of attention.
There is a connection, of sorts.
A resident who lives behind the Lidgerwood courts told the council that individuals have been sleeping and urinating behind them ever since sound-dampening screens were added.
“So since that plastic has been put up, we have noticed people sleeping behind the courts, people urinating behind the courts, and I’ve had a couple of issues walking dogs, because when you’re walking on the pathway, you can’t see who’s coming right at the corner of that pathway,” said Amelia Nunn.
Although the special fencing muffles pickleball noise somewhat, Nunn said, pickleball players sometimes move onto the tennis courts on busy days or when the pickleball courts are locked. The tennis courts are not lined with any sound-dampening fencing.
Nunn’s neighbor, Stella Su, said pickleball “causes a lot of noise pollution that it is is becoming a nightmare, a headache in the community.”
Police are aware of people sleeping behind the courts and are keeping an eye on the park for any “nefarious” activity, town Administrator Jillian Barrick.
Last month, the council quietly introduced a “camping” ordinance that essentially would have criminalized homelessness, empowering police to arrest people for sleeping on public property and imposing fines of up to $2,000. Facing a public backlash, Mayor Tim Dougherty asked the council to withdraw his measure two days later.
In brief remarks to the council on Tuesday, Michael Callahan, director of the Office of Homelessness Prevention in the state Department of Community Affairs, said his office has reached out to the town administration and they are collaborating in a “30-60-90-day sprint” to find near-term solutions to homelessness in Morristown.
Callahan said the state will provide resources–he did not specify what kind–for emergency sheltering, with an eye toward permanent housing and supportive case management.
His office also will explore the Municipal Court’s role, he said, and how to deploy 24-hour street outreach teams that partner with law enforcement, instead of “turning police officers into social workers.”
As a model, Callahan cited a joint effort by nonprofits and local and state officials last year to close a Toms River homeless encampment and relocate its occupants.
Asserting that homelessness is a county-wide problem, Councilman Robert Iannaccone urged Callahan to coordinate solutions with Morris County, not Morristown. Iannaccone praised Morris County government for its responsiveness, and also pointed to Bergen County as an example of efficient, centralized management of homeless programs.
Substance abuse is a major contributing factor to homelessness, Iannaccone continued, saying it’s imperative to connect this population with behavioral- and mental health services. Homeless individuals come to Morristown because it’s the county seat and has many services nearby, the councilman said.
Morristown has the most homeless people in Morris County–by a wide margin.
That’s according to a January 2024 survey by Monarch Housing Associates. The federally mandated one-night sample counted more than 12,000 homeless persons in New Jersey, a 24 percent increase from 2023, and identified 680 individuals experiencing homelessness in Morris County, a 32 percent rise from the previous year.
Morristown had 247 homeless persons and another 206 in homeless shelters. The next closest Morris municipality was Morris Plains, with 60 homeless and 57 in shelters. Dover was third with 38/16.
Actual homeless numbers could be higher. The “Point-in-Time Count” is only a snapshot, conducted on a single January evening every year.
‘NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED’
Barrick described pickleball at Lidgerwood as a project for the “no-good-deed-goes- unpunished file.” The town had hoped to meet residents’ demand for the popular sport in an economical way, by repurposing one of the park’s tennis courts, she said.
In October 2023, the council approved a $98,470 contract to convert a Lidgerwood tennis court into three pickleball courts. Three months later, the governing body authorized another $32,200 to install noise-reducing fencing around those courts.
New pickleball courts could open this fall in a nonresidential area of town, Barrick said. Iannaccone asked where that could be, but the administrator declined to say.
Iannaccone suggested partnering with neighboring Morris Township, which has thriving pickleball courts at Ginty Field, away from residences. The Township’s former Honeywell tract, now the site of the Red Bulls soccer training fields, also might be worth exploring as a regional location for pickleball, he said.
Barrick noted that indoor pickleball is coming soon to the former Sears store in Cedar Knolls. While she is open to pursuing different options, she said, it’s her belief that Morristown residents want to play pickleball in town.
The popular sport has caused friction before in Morristown.
After hearing many concerns from neighbors about noise and lights, the Morristown Field Club on James Street agreed not to add new pickleball courts to its expansion plan in 2022.
But the private club, established in 1881, predates town zoning, and it reserved the right to re-stripe existing tennis courts for the sport. The club has a team in the North Jersey Women’s Pickleball League, according to the club’s website.
IN OTHER BUSINESS
The council, as expected, adopted a redevelopment plan calling for a five-story, 64-unit mixed-use building at 25 Market St., a lot cleared for a boutique hotel that never got built. The vote was 6-0, with Councilman Chris Russo recusing himself because he lives within 200 feet of the site.
Resident Christine Conti-Collins asked for police enforcement near Starbucks, “before somebody gets seriously hurt.”
She said cars double- and triple park outside the coffee shop at DeHart and South streets, endangering pedestrians and clogging traffic. Barrick said the town public safety director is exploring parking solutions there.
Morristown resident Andriy Vasiyschouk, a Ukrainian immigrant, promoted a weekend concert to benefit the Friends of Chervonohrad, a nonprofit raising funds for medical missions to his native town.
Although it’s in western Ukraine, away from the battle with Russia, Chervonohrad has absorbed many refugees, said Vasiyschouk, a naturalized U.S. citizen employed by the Army as a civilian engineer.
The concert is this Saturday, March 15, 2025, at 5 pm in St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, and features the mother-son piano duo of Michelle and Christopher Kuo.
And… Council President Nathan Umbriac said Sanofi’s new building at M Station will open partially on March 24, 2025.
I am not sure the expectation when purchasing a home with a shared property line to the towns recreational park.
Perhaps a wildlife sanctuary would suit field and stream better for peaceful expectations.
Recreation is usually noisy.
It is a really annoying sound that carries far. In my town I hear it when I walk on paths in the same park as the courts and I feel bad for the people who live near there. I can avoid it but they cannot. Tennis is much quieter.
Ditto:
To the complaints on noise pollution, really, maybe it’s time to relocate to field and stream.
We want a vibrant community and to invest in its reputation now and for building a future.
Not stale.
Just as residents who pay taxes deserve the opportunity to enjoy their backyards for recreation. At question is not providing pickleball courts, it’s a matter of location, and unless you are property owners who are directly dealing with this issue, I’m not sure why you think your response for them to relocate “to field or stream” is appropriate or reasonable.
The town needs to offer recreation space, green space and activity space for its community. The youth have access to locations such as the inferred new pickleball INDOOR court near Walmart.
The goal is health, wellness and building community. We aren’t getting that by Ubers to Hanover.
This town needs more investment in Green Spacy and Community place.
To the complaints on noise pollution, really, maybe it’s time to relocate to field and stream.
We want a vibrant community and to invest in its reputation now and for building a future.
Not stale.