Zeloof tract to connect other open-space properties in area of Dutchtown-Harlingen Road and Route 601
By: Jake Uitti
MONTGOMERY The Township Committee approved the purchase of the 30-acre Zeloof tract Thursday, and the township plans to acquire the parcel in January after it completes the necessary paperwork, said Lori Savron, the township’s planner.
The parcel, located at Route 601 and Dutchtown-Harlingen Road, will be purchased for $1.4 million, and is adjacent to several other open-space properties. The tract will assist in the formation of a larger, contiguous parcel of open space, Township Open Space Committee Chairman Clem Fiori said.
Somerset County will reimburse the township $500,000 of the $1.4 million cost.
"It’s been on our shopping list for quite a while," Mr. Fiori said.
A tentative agreement had been reached with owner Ezra Zeloof and the township over a year ago, Mr. Fiori continued, but Mr. Zeloof died. The Open Space Committee then continued negotiations with Mr. Zeloof’s estate, Mr. Fiori said.
The Zeloof tract connects the Platz property and the Tucker farm in the east with several tracts of land Somerset County has bought in the western section of the township for preserved open space.
The Zeloof property is also at a crossroads of the historic district of Dutchtown, Mr. Fiori added, and has houses around it dating back to the 1700s.
"For the time being, it will be left in its natural state," Mr. Fiori said of the land that is mostly covered in forest. "Later, we may put some pathway systems in."

