County, town close to Stanton purchase

Middlesex County Improvement Authority is negotiating a purchase price with the current land owner.

By: Joseph Harvie
   The Township and the county are close to acquiring 89 acres of the 101-acre Stanton property in Kendall Park, according to county and township officials.
   The Middlesex County Improvement Authority, which handles land acquisitions for the county, is waiting to complete environmental reports on the property and is negotiating a purchase price with land owner Robert Stanton of New York, Jane Leal, director of administration at the MCIA, said Wednesday.
   The land is located across from Woodlot Park behind the Kendall Park Fire and First Aid buildings and stretches back to Little Rocky Hill. Under current zoning, about 70 houses could be built on the property, which sits at the edge of the most densely populated section of South Brunswick.
   Ron Schmalz, township public affairs coordinator, said Mr. Stanton plans on keeping a parcel of about 12 acres adjacent to New Road. There are no plans on file to develop the parcel.
   The township had been negotiating with Mr. Stanton for several years to purchase the land and preserve it as open space, but his $9.5 million price tag was too large for the township to afford on its own, so it asked the county for help.
   Ms. Leal said that, although negotiations were going well, the county has not worked out a final price. She said she expects negotiations to be completed soon, but wouldn’t say when.
   The township set aside $3 million to help purchase the land, but Mr. Schmalz said it is unclear how much of that will be used for the purchase.
   Mr. Schmalz said the township will meet again with Mr. Stanton and the MCIA next week to discuss the purchase.
   Mr. Stanton said Wednesday he would not comment on the negotiations.