Open space preservationists have arranged for a walking tour of the Carson Road Woods property at 2 p.m. Sunday.
By: Lea Kahn
The meeting point is off Benedek Road in the Rosedale Acres subdivision, off Rosedale Road opposite the Educational Testing Service.
The Delaware & Raritan Greenway and the Lawrence Township Conservation Foundation are sponsoring the walk to acquaint township residents with the 186-acre parcel. The walk will take about one hour.
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The two nonprofit groups and Lawrence Township have joined forces to raise $8.4 million to buy the property. The goal is to save the property from being developed into an single-family-house subdivision. If the township buys the land, it will become a passive recreation area.
The nonprofit groups must raise $3 million toward the $8.4 million purchase price by June 30, because developer G. Rieder & Sons is moving ahead with an application for the 62-lot subdivision before the Planning Board. Rieder plans to sell the approved subdivision to developer K. Hovnanian Cos.
This is not the first time that Lawrence Township has tried to buy the property. The township had applied for state Green Acres Program funds to buy the land several years ago. The money did not come through because of changes in the way the Green Acres Program was administered.
The Carson Road Woods consists of two separate parcels the 114-acre tract formerly known as the Princeton Weald site, and the 72-acre former Gordon Farm.
M.Y. Properties LLC, a subsidiary of G. Rieder & Sons, bought the Princeton Weald tract from Commonwealth Bank in 1995. GGR Properties LLC, also a subsidiary of G. Rieder & Sons, bought the Gordon Farm in 1996 and merged it with the former Princeton Weald site.
Commonwealth Bank acquired the Princeton Weald site from developer Ralph Schoenman. Mr. Schoenman sought to develop the 114-acre tract into an upscale single-family-house subdivision, but the Planning Board rejected the application. He filed a lawsuit, which was settled out of court. He was preparing to go forward with development plans when the bank acquired the property.
Subdivision approval for the Gordon Farm parcel in 1994. The plans called for creating 11 building lots on the 72-acre property. Those plans were later scrapped in favor of a three-lot subdivision. Then, GGR Properties bought the parcel.