Neighbors Cite Juvenile Problems at Mulligan Complex

VILLAS – Three Villas residents spoke at the June 5 Lower Township Council meeting to say they are disturbed and frightened by juvenile conduct at the Clem Mulligan Sports Complex.
Located between East Bates and Caroline avenues, the park was the site of a $2.6 million rehabilitation project that was completed a year ago and recently was used as the site for the township’s Family Fun Night.
However, neighbors have complained that life around the park has been anything but fun. On Family Fun Night, for example, cars parking in front of a woman’s house were halfway on her lawn.
“When I mentioned it to a guy, he flipped me the bird,” she said.
She said people were also parking in front of fire hydrants, however, most of the comments referred to ongoing mischief by individuals in their young through late teens.
The woman, as well as a man and his wife, told Lower Township Council about drinking, marijuana use, and dealing drugs at the Clem Mulligan Sports Complex. The man said there are nights when he will step outside and think, “Man, they are smoking some heavy weed tonight.”
He described people approaching cars and reaching in to take something they keep hidden and then handing it off to someone in another vehicle.
“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know what they are doing,” he said.
There are also complaints of cars racing up Bates Avenue, something Township Manager Mike Laffey said was recorded on video.
In addition, the man said children are playing with airsoft guns that fire a plastic pellet, or perhaps SplatRBall guns, which fire a small liquid-filled pellet. The man was afraid someone would lose an eye from one of these guns.
Capt. Don Vanaman, of the Lower Township Police Department, said both the airsoft and SplatRBall guns are regulated by state law 2c:39-5, which requires a permit for a handgun that fires any type of projectile by any means.
The residents told of other juvenile matters, such as the foul language being used by young people in the park. They complained of broken glass all over the place, brazen attitudes, and vandalism.
A woman mentioned people’s fences being broken, and the man said a group of juveniles were standing in the street and not allowing a woman to pass in her car.
“Ask the (police) chief to come in for a meeting tomorrow at 9 a.m.,” Mayor Frank Sippel told the township manager.
Sippel said he has been to the park and has a grandson who visits the park. He said he has had discussions with the police department and has faith in them, noting a 45-minute conversation he had with Police Chief Kevin Lewis on the topic.
“They are a good police department,” he said.
Sippel said the park closes at 9 p.m. and there is a midnight summer curfew for juveniles in the township, which he said the police would be enforcing. The curfew has been on the books for years, but the township revised it in the spring as a way of addressing juvenile problems.
In November 2022, residents from North Cape May addressed township council regarding an assault on a resident by a juvenile.
Laffey said he and Sippel met with the police chief and other command staff members, and they agreed that more had to be done.
Besides increasing police presence in the area, the township would be installing more security cameras. He said the police would be performing more property checks in the area. He said the police have conducted 120 to 130 property checks in the area since April.
Laffey said he would like to see the park fenced with a gate that is locked at 9 p.m., however, some of the funding that went to the rehabilitation of the park was Open Space grant funding, and there are restrictions in place regarding fencing around areas using Open Space funding.
He said the township did put up some split rail fences to discourage ATVs from entering the park. He said hopefully the increased police presence, including bike patrols, and attention by a park attendant will help deter some of the problems.
Laffey said the township is considering putting digital signboards where cars may be parking to identify park hours. Laffey said the township would like to handle the problems and still keep the park open for people who want to use it.
“We want little kids to be able to play there and will try to do the best we can to solve those problems. We’ve effectively done it in a couple of other areas,” he said. “We’re going to see if we can come to a better resolution and make the park user-friendly for everyone.” 
Contact the author, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 128.