The Little Woods will be renamed “The Barbara Rich Preserve at Little Woods.”
Two weeks of discussion on an ordinance to rename “Little Woods on the Rancocas” boiled down to the addition of three words. While an ordinance was introduced to rename the space “Barbara Rich’s Little Woods,” at its latest meeting, Moorestown Council amended the ordinance to rename the open space “The Barbara Rich Preserve at Little Woods.”
The ordinance sparked debate at council’s previous meeting when Deputy Mayor Nicole Gillespie inquired if the Little family — the source of the open space’s prior namesake — had been consulted about the new name. After some vigorous debate, council chose to continue the ordinance’s public hearing at last Monday night’s meeting to allow Gillespie time to contact the family.
Gillespie informed those in attendance she has been in contact with Silas Little’s sons and granddaughter. At a meeting between Gillespie; Maura Dey, the chairperson of the open space committee; Rebecca Quinn, Little’s granddaughter; and Councilwoman Victoria Napolitano, “The Barbara Rich Preserve at Little Woods” was batted around as a suitable alternative, but Napolitano said they did not come to a consensus at the meeting’s close.
There was no shortage of residents eager to weigh in on the matter during public comments, including Little’s granddaughter who is currently a Moorestown resident. Quinn said the past few weeks have been emotional for the family. She said her grandfather was the stewart of the property for more than 40 years and worked hard to protect the space from the nearby landfill.
Quinn said in learning about Rich’s accomplishments over the course of their discussions, it’s clear that her work to preserve open space means as much to residents today as her grandfather’s did decades ago.
“I ask that we honor Moorestown’s past, just as we would ask future generations to honor what happens here today,” Quinn said. “I respectfully ask that we come to a compromise that celebrates my granddad’s legacy while showing appreciation for Barbara Rich and her dedication to the community.”
Joseph Ponessa, president of Save The Environment of Moorestown, said both STEM and the Open Space Committee engaged in a fair bit of dialogue about the renaming, and while they were fine with the proposed name, the amended name also had a lot of resonance. He said STEM’s preference was to go with the second name.
Resident Greg Adams advocated for the original shorter name.
“I think that Barbara Rich’s Little Woods is a nice name; it’s complicated enough,” Adams said. “I see no reason to stretch it out to Barbara Rich’s Preserve at Little Woods. I think that’s kind of a complicated name for a park.”
Former Mayor Stacey Jordan also asked council not amend the proposed name. Jordan read a letter into record that she and most of the former mayors of Moorestown had penned asking council to adopt the name as proposed.
“While Mrs. Rich has never been one to seek the spotlight, her efforts deserve to be honored and acknowledged by the people of this wonderful community,” Jordan said.
Harry Mayer, vice chair of open space advisory committee, stressed that property names are often changed over the years. He suggested the space could be named after Rich while having a commemorative plaque that gives some information about Silas Little.
“Things do change; the names that we decide for these parks are not necessarily what they’re going to be forever,” Mayer said.
Councilman Michael Locatell said he was surprised to learn that Little had sold the space to a company with plans to turn it into a sewage treatment facility. The sewage facility was ultimately never built due to the company’s financial constraints, and a few owners later, Rich negotiated with Toll Brothers, which subsequently donated the land to the township.
“There is no little woods today if there’s not Barbara Rich pushing for the little woods,” Locatell said.
Napolitano expressed similar concerns.
“When we set a precedent that we’ll retain the name based on owning property several owners beforehand, I just don’t know if that opens us up to challenges in the future of other people coming back,” Napolitano said.
Gillespie countered they were setting a precedent “about being decent to one another.”
“A lot of people felt that this was a way to recognize Barbara without erasing Silas Little,” Gillespie said.
Ultimately, both Locatell and Napolitano voted “no,” on the amendment to the name, but Mayor Lisa Petriello, Councilman Brian Donnelly and Gillespie voted “yes” and passed the amendment. While neither Locatell or Napolitano supported the amended name, both reluctantly agreed to vote “yes” to give Rich the recognition they felt she deserved.
The next meeting of Moorestown Township Council will take place at 7:30 p.m. in Town Hall on Monday, March 11.
