Shade Tree Commission OKs new trees at William Annin Middle School

Basking Ridge resident Diane Corcoran has seen the light, and it's become a distraction.

Corcoran, who lives at the corner of Gold Boulevard and Quincy Road, has a surge of bright light shining into her home until 11:30 p.m. It's emanating from the William Annin Middle School parking lot.

Corcoran has made her case to the Shade Tree Commission as well as William Annin principal Karen Hudock, and asked to have evergreen trees planted on the middle island of the parking lot between the entrance and the exit, which she said would block a good portion of the light.

Hudock has agreed to have trees planted in that section of the school's parking lot, but doesn't believe evergreen trees are a good idea, and the Shade Tree Commission concurs.

Commission members said they believe that planting evergreens near the perimeter of a middle school is a safety issue. A tree that limits vision year-round is dangerous around a school because oncoming traffic might not be able to see children or other cars coming from either direction, members said.

"The way that parking lot is and the number of vehicles going in and out - evergreens there would really block your sight lines. It would be really bad," board member Carolyn Gaziano said. 

Gaziano is the liaison between the Bernards Township Board of Education and the Shade Tree Commission, and said speaking with the Board of Education about the lights in the parking lot may solve the issue.

"The other schools do shut down their lights earlier. I know Ridge [High School has had complaints about that in the past," Gaziano said.

Gaziano also said she believed the lights in the parking lot are on timers and went off at 10 p.m., but Corcoran indicated that they do not shut off until 11:30 p.m. Gaziano is going to speak with the Board of Education in an attempt to solve the lighting issue this way.

Commission member and tree expert Jack Gray is going to look at the site and make recommendations. However, commission members said they do not see how any planting would block light immediately. 

"We don't usually plant evergreens, and any evergreen we plant is not going to block the light," Commission Chairperson Randy Santoro said. Santoro said it would be a great number of years before the trees would be tall enough to shade from any disturbing light.

"I don't think that anything we plant is going to block the lights; they are 14 to 15 feet high," commission member Judy O'Connell added. "It won't solve the problem."

But Santoro and other members agreed it would still be worthwhile to plant trees in the middle island of the William Annin parking lot, and said they'd add that project to their fall planting list of more than 20 trees. 

Fall planting will begin in early October.

The next Shade Tree Commission meeting will be held Sept. 15 at 7:30 p.m. in the municipal building.