Ippoliti horse farm on Davidsons Mill Road, preserved as a farm forever.
By: Joseph Harvie
Gary Ippoliti wanted to help preserve open space in the township.
So he decided to seek approval of the state, county and township to have his 10.7-acre horse farm entered into the state Farmland Preservation program.
Approval came last year and Mr. Ippoliti and his wife, Susan, closed on the preservation on Feb. 24. Now, the Ippoliti’s know their farm will always be a farm.
Mr. Ippoliti said that as a farmer he tends to be more touchy on preserving open space and thought that preserving his farm would be best for the township because his land is near Davidsons Mill Pond Park.
"It’s great for South Brunswick, the state and my family," Mr. Ippoliti said. "With sprawl the way it is going in New Jersey, anytime we can save land and open space it’s a good thing considering how fast we are losing farmlands and woods and open space in general."
Under the farmland preservation process, a farm’s development rights are purchased but the farmer retains ownership of the land, meaning the land can be used only for farmland.
The Ippoliti’s horse farm was the 28th farm in Middlesex County to be preserved, according to Middlesex County Freeholder Camille Fernicola, chairwoman of the county’s Planning and Engineering Committee and liaison to the county Agricultural Development Board.
The purchase of the Davidsons Mill Road horse farm brings the total land in the Middlesex County Farmland Preservation Program to just over 3,389-acres, said Ms. Fernicola.
Mr. Ippoliti said he applied for preservation status in 2001 after hearing about the program from a neighbor who gave him contact information for Linda Busch, principal planner/environment, Parks & Comprehensive Planning of Middlesex County.
"We were talking about how tough it is to make it as a farmer with rising costs," Mr. Ippoliti said. "He mentioned the farmland preservation program, and he gave me Linda Busch’s number and I called her and got the information and thought it sounded interesting."
After reviewing the information, the Ippolitis filed for preservation status. Once an applicant’s farmland preservation request is approved, the applicant sells the developments rights. The state pays 60 percent of the cost of the land’s development rights and the county and municipality each pay 20 percent. The price is based on a ranking system established by the county agricultural board.
South Brunswick paid $34,576.68, the state’s share was $108,240.05, and the county’s share of the cost was $37,583.35, said Ms. Fernicola.
The Ippolitis moved to and leased the farm in 1993 and bought it in December 1995, Mr. Ippoliti said.
"My wife worked on horse farms previously and I worked my way through college on a horse farm and we owned horses and we decided to live on a farm after retiring from Wall Street," Mr. Ippoliti said. "And we felt we were better off on a farm we had experience with."
Mr. Ippoliti said he liked the idea of being close to the city limits and still surrounded by wooded areas and other farms.
"When looking for place to move, we liked South Brunswick, we liked the schools and liked the town and felt it was an ethnically diverse community," Mr. Ippoliti said.
He said he’s happy with his decision to keep the farm and stay in South Brunswick and ensure that developers will not be able to build on his property. He said his children enjoy the farm life and open space and he wants to see them grow up on the farm.
"At the present time I think it’s a good decision. We’re surrounded by Davidsons Mills Park behind us, so it’s good for the township," Mr. Ippoliti said. "The township gets some open space that has a built-in caretaker, that is my family, they (the township) don’t have to worry about upkeep of the property, we take care of it and plus it’s good to keep a little bit of God’s green acres."