East Brunswick needs recreation facilities, not more houses

I read Frank Coury’s letter to the editor requesting a "town hall" meeting on the proposal to purchase the Heavenly Farms property (Sentinel, July 3) , and I have many concerns regarding his comments.

Mr. Coury thinks it’s a bad idea for our town to have a state-of-the-art facility that could become "the jewel of Middlesex County," if not the state. He talks about traffic and how it would be better for us all if we would let the developer build more houses. That’s just what we need, more houses in this community.

I guess he doesn’t have small children who are active in sports like I do. If he did he would know that the children of this community are suffering from a lack of facilities. Was he online at 7 a.m. two weeks ago to register his kids for basketball, which by the way is on a first-come, first-served basis because the gyms are already overcrowded?

Do his kids play soccer/football at the on-again off-again fairgrounds facility? Have his kids had wrestling matches in the cafeteria at Churchill School? Have his kids played lacrosse at the crabgrass fields of Frost School and Warnsdorfer? Does he know that there is an organization in town called Fields of Dreams, which is working to help offset the cost to taxpayers of any redevelopment of sports fields in town through fund-raising, grants and sponsorship?

Our schools are already crowded. How many more houses do we need to overcrowd them? Amphitheaters and recreation for the town will create funds for the community. It will be a place where all residents will want to come, too. We need to bring the community together at a place we can be proud of and enjoy pastimes with our neighbors.

What’s more important: The quality of life for our children and ourselves, or a few more houses for the developers to build? I know my answer. Let’s enjoy the future and watch our kids grow together.

Dean Bierman

East Brunswick