Township adds fifth farm to preservation roster

North Hanover Township Committee voted unanimous preliminary approval for the preservation of the 157-acre Claw LLC Farm, formerly the Lustgarten Farm, on Stewart Road.

By: William Wichert
   NORTH HANOVER — With 22 preserved farms under their belt, township officials are looking to save more than 800 additional acres spread across five farms from the increasing threat of residential development.
   Officials added the fifth farm to their workload Dec. 2 when the Township Committee voted unanimous preliminary approval for the preservation of the 157-acre Claw LLC Farm, formerly the Lustgarten Farm, on Stewart Road.
   "This will be our fifth farm under negotiation or in the (farmland preservation) process for this year," Mayor Lou DeLorenzo said during the meeting. "We’re all very proud. We’ve worked hard."
   Township officials also are working with the county and the state to preserve the 288-acre Ervin Farm at Stewart and Orr roads, the 62-acre Herenchak Farm on Jacobstown-Arneytown Road, the 17-acre Bower Farm on Route 537, and the 314-acre Russell Farm, off Jacobstown-Arneytown and Paulson roads, the mayor said.
   "The goal is to keep North Hanover Township beautiful and keep our farms," said Mayor DeLorenzo, adding that officials on the county and state levels are still negotiating purchase prices for most of the five farms.
   After two appraisals of the Claw LLC farm and the Ervin Farm have been conducted, the Burlington County Board of Chosen Freeholders will vote on an offer to make to the properties’ owners, said Loretta O’Donnell, a county spokeswoman. She said the township will be required to pay 10 percent of the total cost of purchasing each farm.
   If both these farms are purchased at the average price of $10,000 an acre, the township would be required to pay about $445,000 combined, but Mayor DeLorenzo said the recent 7-cent increase in the open-space tax rate will give the township the funds it needs.
   The tax increase, which was approved by voters in a referendum question last month, brings the open space tax rate to 11 cents per every $100 of assessed property value, or an extra $119 every year for the owner of a home assessed at the township average of $170,000. This tax increase is expected to produce an additional revenue of $150,000 each year.
   For the Herenchak and Russell farms, the state is expected to close the deal on both of them very soon, said Jeff Beach, a spokesman for the State Agricultural Development Committee.
   The Herenchak Farm is being preserved through the Direct Easement Purchase program, in which the SADC purchases a property’s development rights. The farmer will maintain ownership of the land, but the deed will be restricted to prevent any nonagricultural development.
   The state is also still in negotiations with Joseph Russell Jr. to purchase his farm through the fee-simple method, which allows the SADC to purchase the property outright and then resell the deed-restricted land at a public auction. The Russell Farm was previously considered for preservation by its former owner, Alpharma Inc., an international pharmaceutical company.
   Mayor DeLorenzo said the fee-simple preservation makes purchasing land more affordable for new farmers.
   "They just cannot afford to buy farms in North Hanover," he said. "Farmland preservation is a number-one issue, but the number-two issue is farmer preservation. What’s a farm without a farmer?"
   The SADC has also already approved about $1 million in the form of Planning Incentive Grants (PIGs) to go to North Hanover between 2004 and 2005, Mr. Beach said. This grant money will allow the township to purchase the development rights of small farms. The first installment of $545,407 is part of a bill that was recently passed by both the state Assembly and the state Senate.
   Mayor DeLorenzo said there are about 38 farms in the township that are eligible to receive PIG funds, but the owners of the Bower Farm were the only ones to file an application so far. The farm is expected to receive two appraisals soon, he said.