Land is in Hopewell Township off North Main Street, just beyond the borough boundary
By John Tredrea
Pennington Borough is poised to preserve 10 acres of land near its new Public Works facility as open space.
The land is part of an 18-acre tract of borough-owned land in Hopewell Township off North Main Street, just beyond the borough boundary.
The new 22,000-square-foot Public Works facility expected to be finished in a few months requires only 8 of the 18 acres of the township land owned by Pennington, borough officials say.
The other 10 acres, now earmarked for open space preservation via sale to the D&R Greenway Land Trust, lie north of a creek that runs through the land.
Borough officials voted unanimously Monday night to proceed with applying for subdivision approval from the township for the 10 acres. That approval is legally required to preserve the land as open space, Councilman Joseph Lawver said.
The borough’s plan is to preserve the land by selling it for 65 percent of its fair market value of about $340,000 to the D&R Greenway Land Trust, an area nonprofit that has preserved many tracts of land as open space or farmland. That translates to the D&R paying the borough about $221,000 for the land.
As is required by state law for all open space acquisition projects, the land’s fair market value was estimated by two state-certified appraisers.
The contract under which the land can be sold to the D&R is being drafted. Mr. Lawver said council’s intent is to use the money from the sale to help pay for the new Public Works facility.
"So it protects green space and helps pay for the Public Works building," Councilman Weed Tucker said.

