EDITORIAL
By:
Morris Realty Associates are proposing to build 76 single-family houses on a parcel the company had targeted for warehouses.
But neighbors of the 220-acre Van Dyke tract on Davidsons Mill Road have other ideas. They want the township to work with the county and state to preserve what they say is a historic farm property, home to a slave cemetery and an important piece of a sometimes ignored area.
We agree. The Van Dyke parcel is one of the largest remaining undeveloped properties remaining in town. It is located in a rural area on a street lined with horse farms, old chicken farms and other agricultural properties. And Davidsons Mill Road, which has taken on more and more traffic over the years, is not designed for more.
There are problems, of course. It will be an expensive purchase and, so far, the council has avoided taking a position. A purchase price of between $25 million and $30 million has been floated, which is way too high for the township to handle on its own.
We think the council has a responsibility to explore preservation of the property and review its options with state officials. The state offers several programs that could help the township lock up the property. Green Acres or historic preservation money might be available. Or the township could buy the land through the state farmland preservation program, which would restrict its use to farming, and then auction it off. Cranbury has done this successfully.
The council needs to get behind preservation and do so quickly. The Planning Board has not scheduled hearings, but will have just 120 days in which to act once it does. The clock is ticking.

