Pennington plans to preserve 67 acres as open space

Tract is in Hopewell Township near borough line.

By John Tredrea
   Pennington Borough may contribute up to $200,000 toward the estimated $500,000 cost of buying the development rights of a 67-acre tract of land in Hopewell Township, located just north of the borough line.
   The property is owned by Alex Hanson, who would continue to live on it in an existing home.
   Purchase of the development rights means the land, which would continue to be owned by Mr. Hanson, would be deed-restricted forever against further development.
   The proposed land deal was summarized by Pennington’s Open Space Advisory Committee during the April 7 Borough Council meeting.
   Advisory committee Chairman Jack Koeppel, accompanied by John Jackson and other members of the committee, told council Mr. Hanson has expressed a willingness to cooperate in a deal to sell the development rights of his land and allow public access to a trail that would run across it.
   The trail would run from a point near a CSX railroad bridge on North Main Street toward Stony Brook and Baldwin Lake. From the trail across the Hanson tract, a hiker would be able to continue into another, smaller tract of land already preserved as open space. That tract is connected to Kunkel Park, located off Park Avenue in the northeast section of the borough.
   Mr. Koeppel said that, if the deal goes through as currently contemplated, the Delaware and Raritan Greenway would be the lead agency in the purchase of development rights. The Greenway is a nonprofit organization that has participated in numerous open space acquisitions in central New Jersey.
   The $200,000 Pennington would contribute to the estimated $500,000 price tag would come from a $400,000 Green Acres grant the borough received from state government about a year ago. This would be Pennington’s first use of that grant money.
   Mr. Koeppel told Borough Council that the Hanson deal fits with the Open Space Advisory Committee’s goals of surrounding the borough, as much as possible, with a green belt of open space and of providing a network of hiking trails for area residents.
   "The idea is that achieving these goals would preserve Pennington’s individuality and character," he said.
   "Sounds like a great idea to me," borough Councilman Weed Tucker said of the proposed Hanson deal.
   The unanimous consensus of the council was that the open space committee should proceed with negotiations on the proposed deal.
   A key factor, Mr. Jackson told council, has been Mr. Hanson’s cooperativeness. Mr. Jackson said that if the land were sold to another owner, that willingness to maintain open space might not continue to exist.