Van Kirk Road property in county farmland program.
By: Lea Kahn
An application to the state and county to preserve 50 acres on Van Kirk Road has gained Township Council’s approval one of the conditions of the application.
Township Council endorsed an application by Stephen Jusick to preserve the vacant parcel on Van Kirk Road, near Anderson Lane, Tuesday night. Mr. Jusick lives on Van Kirk Road, near but not on the 50-acre tract.
The township’s endorsement is required by the Mercer County Agricultural Development Board as part of the application process, Municipal Manager William Guhl said.
"This does not ensure it will be included (in the development easement program)," Mr. Guhl told Township Council as it prepared to endorse the application Tuesday night.
Every year, the township sends letters to the owners of farmland-assessed properties to let them know about the development easement purchase program, Mr. Guhl said. Mr. Jusick expressed some interest in the program and applied for it, he said.
If the application is approved by the Mercer County Agricultural Development Board and the New Jersey Agriculture Development Committee, the county and state would purchase the development rights to the property, Mr. Guhl said. Municipal money is not involved at all, he said.
The land would be deed-restricted so that it could only be used for agricultural purposes, he said. It could never be developed for residential uses or nonresidential uses, other than farmland uses.
The property is farmland assessed now, according to the Lawrence Township tax assessor’s office. To qualify for farmland assessment, a parcel must be at least 5 acres. It must generate $500 in agricultural products for the first 5 acres, and $5 an acre for each additional acre.
The Van Kirk Road property’s farmland-assessed value is $25,300, which generated $756.44 in property taxes for 2003, the tax assessor’s office records show. If it were not farmland-assessed, it would be valued at $575,000. It would have generated $17,192 in property taxes for 2003.