Salem County Town Adding 17 Acres to Park

Be vewy qwiet, I'm hunting open space.

Sorry.

This article originally appeared in South Jersey Times.

Officials will look to expand Elmer Community Park with new open space purchase

ELMER — Though Salem County currently leads the state in total acres of preserved farmland under the New Jersey Farmland Preservation Program, local and county officials this week announced the first major “open space” acquisition in the county.

Salem County freeholders, in cooperation with officials in Elmer and Upper Pittsgrove, have reached an agreement to set aside 17 acres of land in Elmer as open space, with the goal of eventually expanding Elmer Community Park.

According to Upper Pittsgrove Mayor Jack Cimprich, his township had been looking to preserve a 117 acre piece of property known as the “Anthony Estate Farm.”

Most of the farm — roughly 100 acres — falls in Upper Pittsgrove, but 17 acres of the land is located in eastern Elmer, along Harding Highway adjacent to the borough’s baseball fields.

“We were looking at preserving the entire property as farmland,” said Cimprich. “But when (Deputy Freeholder Director) Ben Laury took me out there to walk the property, he pointed out that the Elmer parcel could be preserved as open space and used to expand Elmer Community Park — providing much-needed space for all our residents.”

As a result, the decision was made to move forward with sectioning off the 17-acres to set aside the parcel as open space, marking the first major open space project for Salem County, officials said.

Since 2002, two-cents of every tax dollar paid by Salem County taxpayers has been directed into a fund for open space and farmland preservation. Until this point, however, those funds have been used exclusively toward funding farmland preservation.

The 17-acre parcel will cost $160,000 to purchase. Fifty-percent of the cost, or $80,000, will be provided through a state grant under the New Jersey Green Acres program. An additional $40,000 will be provided through the county’s dedicated fund, and the remaining $40,000 will be funded by Elmer.

According to Elmer Councilman Steve Schalick, the borough became interested in the property nearly five years ago when it was put up for sale.

“We looked at it then, and thought it would be a good place to expand the park,” said Schalick.

Freeholder Lee Ware — liaison to county Agricultural Development Board, which oversees farmland preservation and open space programs — said obtaining the property marked a win for everyone involved.

“This is a good thing for Elmer and a good thing for the county,” said Ware. “It’s a win all around, and it fits in perfectly with everyone’s master plans.”

Laury added that an expanded park in Elmer will benefit all Salem County residents.

“This park expansion gives residents throughout the area access to a large open space for athletic fields to promote healthy activities," he said. "We are proud to work with all the interested parties in finding a way to give our neighbors a gift we can all share.”

The remaining 100-acres of the Anthony Estate are still slated to enter into farmland preservation, though that part of the process is still in the works, officials said.

200,000 Acres Preserved!

We hope they are not just blowing smoke up our skirts when they say land preservation is a non-partisan issue.

This article originally appeared on PhillyBurbs.com.

County lauded as farmland preservation leader as state saves 200,000th acre

As the Garden State celebrated the milestone of preserving its 200,000th acre of farmland Tuesday, Burlington County was recognized as a leader in the race to protect it.

Burlington is the leader in the number of preserved farms and the total farmland acreage saved under the county grants program of the state's Farmland Preservation Program, state officials said. It also ranks among the top 10 in the country for preserved farmland.

To date, Burlington County has preserved 171 farms and a total of 21,191 acres through the program. The county ranks third in the state, behind Salem and Hunterdon, when all state preservation programs are considered.

New Jersey Agriculture Secretary Douglas H. Fisher recognized the county’s efforts Tuesday during a ceremony in Upper Pittsgrove, Salem County, where he and farmland preservation leaders celebrated the 200,000th acre preserved statewide.

The Cassaday Farm, one of the largest vegetable farms in the state, became the latest of more than 2,000 preserved farms in New Jersey.

“The preservation of 200,000 acres of farmland is an extraordinary achievement that underscores New Jersey’s continued reputation as a national leader in farmland preservation,” Fisher said. “This accomplishment would not have been possible without the strong commitment of all the farmland preservation partners — all levels of government, the nonprofit community, farm owners and the voters, who have consistently supported farmland preservation funding.”

More than 10 percent of the 200,000 acres is in Burlington County, which began its preservation efforts in 1985 and has been supported since 1996 by a dedicated tax overwhelmingly approved by voters at the polls.

The county currently collects a voter-approved 4 cents per $100 of assessed property value to support its program of farmland and historic preservation, open space acquisition and park development.

Through its highly ranked and well-regarded program, the county buys the development rights to farmland, deed-restricts the property to eliminate the threat of residential or commercial development, and then auctions the land to return it to private ownership and agricultural production. Proceeds of the sale help replenish the fund for future acquisitions.

“Agriculture contributes mightily to the economy in Burlington County, so preserving farmland preserves farming as an industry,” said Bruce Garganio, director of the Burlington County Board of Freeholders, on Tuesday. “At the same time, it’s been proven time and again that saving farmland, and keeping it on the property tax rolls, saves tax dollars, especially if the alternative is sprawling residential development.”

The State Agriculture Development Committee administers New Jersey’s Farmland Preservation Program, which was established in 1983. The first farms were saved in 1985.

The county has been aggressively pursuing farmland since 1985, when the threat of development of 500 acres in Chesterfield sparked the freeholders to take action.

“They were really concerned about the rapid pace of development and loss of farmland in the county,” said Mary Pat Robbie, director of the county's Department of Resource Conservation. “The pace of acquisition really picked up after 1996, when voters approved the first tax.”

While the county has set aside about 22,000 acres as part of the state Farmland Preservation Program, it has saved a total of about 25,000 acres when other programs are considered, including preserved Pinelands farms and those protected under the transfer of development rights (TDR) program, Robbie said.

“Our goal is to preserve 40,000 acres,” she said. “We’re getting close, and there is still a lot of interest. We probably have about 2,500 acres in the pipeline right now. Burlington County has always been looked upon as leaders in farmland preservation and something we can all be proud of.”

76 Acres in Upper Pittsgrove Twp., Salem County, Preserved

Upper Pittsgrove is second in the state for preserved farmland, only to Upper Freehold, in Monmouth County. Pretty impressive.

Originally appeared on NJ.com

View full sizeStaff photo by Britney Lillya

UPPER PITTSGROVE TWP. — A 76-acre farm on Burlington Road in Monroeville is being put into preservation through the state program, Mayor Jack Cimprich said recently. 

Dolores Kernan will have her property preserved, adding to the township’s 7,874 acres of preserved farmland. 

Hope Gruzlovic, a spokesperson for the State Farmland Preservation Program and the State Agriculture Development Committee (SADC), said that Upper Pittsgrove is number two in preserved farmland to Upper Freehold in Monmouth County, which has 8,585 acres preserved. She added that there are 198,543 acres preserved statewide. Salem County is number one in preserved farmland through the State Preservation Program, with 29,418 acres.

While Kernan is setting her land up for preservation, she will continue to own the property. Rather than selling the property, she sold the development rights. By doing this, a deed of easement for the development of the land is placed.

“The property becomes restricted in how it can be used,” Cimprich explained.

These restrictions would involve what can be built on the property. No houses or other structures besides those involving farming can be built, and the land can still be farmed.

The funding comes from a Plan Incentive Grant (PIG) from SADC. SADC is funded by the Garden State Preservation Trust. Kernan received $4,200 per acre for the development rights of the land, which is at a net amount of 75.305 acres, totaling $316,281. PIG funding receives an approximate 20 percent match from the county and township each and approximately 60 percent from the state.

“What happens is, each township that is interested is awarded a certain amount of funds,” Cimprich said. “For this case, it was $1.25 million for the acquisition of farmland.”

Part of that money was used for this preservation project.

The SADC provides numerous ways of helping with the preservation process. It can give grants to counties, municipalities and nonprofit groups to pay for the development of the farmland, or offer grants to fund up to 50 percent of the cost of soil and water conservation projects, according to their website. It is also possible for the land to be completely sold to the SADC, though only for property ranging from 92 or more acres.

Cimprich went on to say that the program is a good one, and he hopes it will continue in the upcoming years.

He also mentioned that there are 15 other properties in Upper Pittsgrove totaling 1,100 acres that are approved and set to be put into the state preservation program. In some cases they are waiting for finalization from landowners, Cimprich said, but not all of these properties will necessarily be added for preservation. However, the funding is available and there is better than a 50 percent chance that most of the properties will be added.

Some funding for other land going into preservation may come from the Green Acres or the Federal Farm and Ranch Program.

Several, Cimprich said, fall into the last group.