Did you know that the Borough of Fair Lawn is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Bergen County?

That Bergen County is the most populous county in the State of New Jersey?

Did you know that The National Recreation and Parks Association recommends that 6.25 to 10.50 acres of developed open space land be provided for every 1,000 people?
The Borough of Fair Lawn (whose population was 31,637 based on the 2000
census) should have between 193 and 317 acres of open space – it has
approximately 126 acres (this number excludes Board of Education and County
Property).

Did you know that open spaces (and especially green open spaces) have a strong impact on suburban economies, largely as an amenity which enhances the value of nearby property and makes the community more attractive overall as a place to locate a home or business?

Open Space is a very important issue at this time. On September 20, 2005 the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Fair Lawn created the Open Space Committee. The responsibilities of the Committee are:
þ To inventory all open space in the Borough and identify existing utilized space which may be converted to open space in the future.
þ Research and identify sources of funding such as grants or low interest loans to be utilized to obtain, preserve and maintain open space.
þ Examine the uses of exiting open space and make recommendations as to the appropriateness of such utilization for recreation, parks, or passive uses of such space.
þ Review the use of open space in relationship to its surrounding environs to determine the appropriateness of such utilization.
þ Take into consideration an overview of existing utilizations, potential utilizations, potential acquisition, change of utilizations, if applicable, for the entire municipality.

The Open space committee is pleased to have already accomplished much of what we have been asked to do.

In November 2005 the Borough of Fair Lawn’s Voters approved the Open Space Tax, once the tax was passed we were able to create our Open Space Plan and present it to the State of New Jersey Green Acres Incentive Program. We had only a couple of months to create the plan and members of the committee as well as Borough employees worked very hard on this plan. The State of New Jersey Green Acres Incentive Program was very impressed with our plan and awarded us a grant of $450,000.00. Which has been matched last year and this year by the Borough of Fair Lawn.

As we continue on looking for funding and grants for open space we informed The State of New Jersey Green Acres Incentive Program of our progress and requested additional funds from the next grant process, unfortunately The State of New Jersey Green Acres Incentive Program fund is out of money. In November there will be another Bond Issue on the Ballot – to continue our work in saving the small amount of Open Space not only in the Borough of Fair Lawn but in the State in general that Bond issue needs to pass. Be sure to get out and vote in favor of it.

We have been in touch with other organizations that can provide us with guidance and grants in addition to what we already have.

Thanks to our Open Space and Recreation Public Forum in February 2006 residents of the Borough assisted us in creating a wish list of properties that if/when they become available we would like to consider purchasing.

We have been in contact with Bergen County regarding the possibility of them purchasing property that abuts the current County Park in the Dunkerhook area of Fair Lawn. Please help by sending letters encouraging the county to purchase the property and enlarge the wonderful county park (which includes a wonderful walking and bike trail). Send letters to our Freeholder David Ganz and to the County Executive.

David L. Ganz, Freeholder
County of Bergen Board of Chosen Freeholders
One Bergen County Plaza, Fifth Floor
Hackensack NJ 07601-7076
davidlganz@co.bergen.nj.us

Dennis McNerney, County Executive
County of Bergen
One Bergen County Plaza
Hackensack NJ 07601-7076