Greenway gets go-ahead on Kiesler tract

Ordinance adopted to help preserve Kiesler property.

By: Josh Appelbaum
   The Township Committee adopted an ordinance Monday that provides money to help a nonprofit farmland preservation group acquire the 28.6-acre Kiesler property on John White Road.
   The plan requires Delaware and Raritan Greenway to allow public access to the Kiesler property and establishes a nature preserve on the property, which is located in the Millstone Stream Corridor.
   Cranbury will contribute at least $200,000 toward the cost of the acquisition. D&R is seeking $200,000 from Middlesex County in addition to Cranbury’s contribution, but if the county declines to participate, Cranbury could contribute the entire $400,000. D & R would not disclose the total cost of the acquisition.
   The Parks Planning Commission on Monday suggested the nature preserve on the Kiesler property be called Millstone Park.
   Committeewoman Pari Stave said during a Nov. 22 Township Committee work session that the Kiesler property is valuable to the township and that it is in Cranbury’s best interest to participate in the D&R deal to preserve five buildable lots.
   At the Nov. 22 meeting Committeeman Michael Mayes spoke out against the proposal. Mr. Mayes said the Kiesler property is low-value land and the committee should save money for higher-priority acquisitions.
   Mr. Mayes was not present for Monday’s vote, and the measure passed 4-0. The township approved a bond ordinance Nov. 15 allowing it to borrow $500,000 to cover the cost of the Kiesler acquisition.
   D&R is central New Jersey’s regional land conservancy. It protects and preserves central New Jersey’s open space and the land along the Delaware & Raritan Canal and the streams flowing through the surrounding 1,000-square-mile region. It also protects woodlands, wetlands, stream corridors, scenic vistas and open fields.