Access to state park closed in Allamuchy
Lack of maintenance to road leads to closure
By Bruce A. Scruton
Reporter
A new tact was taken Monday in the decades-long battle over who should fix the gravel access road to the southern end of Allamuchy Mountain State Park when a homeowner closed the now-private right-of-way.
To describe the access as a “road” would be a misnomer, said the property owner, Jeff Careaga. “It’s dangerous; all pot holes. The culvert is out. People shouldn’t be using it,” he said.
Careaga figures about 10,000 cars use the road, listed on maps as Deer Park Road, each year to access a developed trailhead that includes a parking area, restroom and bulletin
board. The trail then accesses Deer Park Pond.
The fight over ownership, which can rightfully be described as a fight over who doesn’t own the road, began last century as the town approved a development which laid out several properties for homes along what was called Deer Park Road.
That original map listed the access road as a right-of-way owned by the town, but the town also had an agreement from the state Department of Environmental Protection that it would maintain the roadway.
According to Careaga, the See PARK, A2
trailhead is about threequarters of a mile up Deer Park Road. The last home on the road is about one-thirdmile up the road.
The town gave up that right-of-way among the private properties in 1982 noting that the state would, in exchange for the private owners allowing the public to access the park along the road, continue to maintain the road.
The town took further action in 1997 to pass an ordinance ceding ownership, but there were no transfers of property.
Although the town took thatactionmorethan20years ago, it wasn’t until this past fall that it took further legal action, through an ordinance, to give up its ownership auctioning its rights-of-way.
Careaga purchased the three lots which comprise the road at that auction with the intent of having a single owner to deal with the state, possibly selling the now-combined lots to DEP provided it build or maintain the road which provides public access to the park.
“I have some experience in the field,” said Careaga who has also retained an attorney. “I want to get some action taken here. It’s a matter of public safety, public access.”
Allamuchy Mayor Rick Lomanaco said he supports the efforts of the residents “to secure a safe and wellmaintained access road to their homes. As an Allamuchy firefighter, I see the life safety issues those residents face in reference to emergency vehicle access.”
And the mayor agrees that since the majority of traffic using Deer Park Road are visitors entering the State Park, “I feel it is imperative that an agreement be reached between the Deer Park residents and the State of NJ to properly maintain
this roadway. Such an agreement will benefit the Deer Park residents, the State Park visitors and the emergency response teams called to provide services to all.” Careaga, who now holds all the rights-of-way, notified the state DEP late last week about the action he planned to take Monday morning to close the road.
He did put up signs which said the road is now private and closed to the public.
At mid-morning Monday, a state park police officer arrived and began taking the signs down.
Careaga said the officer was polite, but insisted the signs had to come down. When told that the rightsof- way had been purchased by the homeowner, the officer said he would “pass it up the line,” the homeowner recounted.
Because he has title to all the lots which make up the access road, the homeowner said he has the right to keep people from crossing his land. Once the officer left, Careaga asked someone working at his home to repost the no trespassing signs. Thedisputeoverownership really comes down to money.
The township didn’t want ownership because more
than 80 percent of the traffic was destined for the deadend at the trailhead within the state park and there is a high cost for a small-town budget to maintain the gravel road. .
Thehomeownersexpressed
no interest in ownership of the individual parts of the road in front of their individual properties. Cost to each property for just one repair effort was estimated to be $30,000.
And, they noted in several meetings, the deeds to their properties indicated there was a public road giving them access to their properties.
The state, while it did do some work in the 1980s and 1990s, occasionally bringing in gravel to fill potholes, told the township and homeowners it could not get continuing appropriations to maintain the road. The homeowner’s translation: “We don’t have the money.”
According to Careaga, the state more recently said the road is in such bad shape that it needs to be rebuilt.
“Rebuilding is a capital expense, they claim,” Careaga said. “And they can’t do the work because the project isn’t in the capital projects budget approved by the legislature.”
A representative of state Legislative District 24, which includes Allamuchy Township, said the office has long been aware of the situation and expressed hope that now, with one owner of the access road, a solution might be closer at hand.
The state DEP acknowledged receipt of an e-mailed request for comment but did not further respond on Monday.
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