Duke Farms withdraws preservation plan

Foundation in charge of the property pulled the application because it is in the midst of a strategic planning process regarding the entire 2,738-acre estate.

By: Melissa Edmond
   The Duke Farms Foundation withdrew its recent application for the New Jersey Farmland Preservation Program last week, according to Duke Farms representatives.
   It had applied in late summer for state farmland preservation money to keep 231 acres of the 2,738-acre estate in Hillsborough from future development.
   Duke Farms Executive Director Tim Taylor said the withdrawal was a mutual decision of the Duke Farms Foundation and county and state representatives including State Agriculture Secretary Charles M. Kuperus and Somerset County Agricultural Planner Anthony McCracken.
   "There’s a misperception on the part of the community that our land was already preserved – it is not," said Mr. Taylor.
   He said the state and county advised them to take a piece of Duke Farms and submit an application to see the benefits of farmland preservation. "It was an exploratory method," he said.
   Mr. Taylor said they had to withdraw because they are going through a strategic planning phase.
   "The state and county wanted a better idea of what we’re doing with the whole estate and not just a small portion," he said. "We’re not going to be done with the strategic planning and we’re not going to know that until late 2006."
   He said they decided to withdraw the application until they knew more. They could reapply in the future.
   "It’s hard when you’re going through a strategic planning to make any commitments until that planning’s done," he said. "Everything’s an assumption until the process is done."
   Mr. Taylor said the will of Doris Duke, the late tobacco heiress who owned the estate, is desirous of maintaining some of the property for the preservation of farmland and farmland animals. He said they are currently farming about 1,100 acres.
   Hope Gruzlovic, a spokeswoman for the State Agriculture Development Committee (SADC), said the parcel Duke Farms submitted for preservation is located between River and New Centre roads.
   She said the committee received a total of 175 applications by its Sept. 15 deadline. The Duke Farms application would have had to compete against those other farms for preservation funding if the application hadn’t been withdrawn.
   The program’s goal is to maintain and preserve agricultural landscapes in all parts of the state, she said.