St. Michael’s tract preservation funding goal now at $500,000

Willard T.C. Johnson Foundation will give $1,000,000 if $500K in private donations is raised by March 15

By Ruth Luse
   Thanks to the Willard T.C. Johnson Foundation, the D&R Greenway Land Trust would be $1 million richer and quite a bit closer to its goal of preserving the St. Michael’s tract — if $500,000 more can be raised through private donations by March 15.
   Just a week ago, the fundraising goal still was $1.5 million or so.
   Jo-Ann C. Munoz, director of communications for the D&R Greenway Land Trust, said Friday, "D&R Greenway is delighted to announce that we received a $1 million commitment to the preservation of St. Michael’s from the Willard T.C. Johnson Foundation. This puts our remaining fundraising goal at $500,000 to reach the $11 million sale price for the property."
   However, Ms. Munoz said, "the $1 million will be donated only if we raise the remaining $500,000. We are so close — we need the support of the entire community to make the preservation of St. Michael’s a reality."
   The D&R Greenway expects to receive $8 million in state, county and municipal funding toward the $11 million price tag. The organization began a fundraising campaign at the September 2006 Hopewell Harvest Fair to raise $3 million in private donations.
   The Willard T.C. Johnson Foundation’s planned contribution was announced to those attending the sold-out Kate Taylor in Concert event held Feb. 1 at Hopewell’s Off-Broadstreet Theatre. That concert was held to benefit the preservation project.
   "Kate Taylor in Concert was a very successful event, generating over $30,000 in gross income to preserve St. Michael’s," said Ms. Munoz Monday.
   Several other fundraising efforts are under way and/or have been planned before March 15. See hopewellvalleynews.com for the HELP SAVE ST. MICHAEL’S TRACT column.
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   What could happen if the D&R Greenway Land Trust does not reach its goal by March 15.
   David Roskos, attorney for St. Michael’s Orphan Asylum and Industrial School, said Friday, "We have a contract with the D&R Greenway Land Trust that is contingent on D&R’s assembling the necessary funds . . . If the preservation effort falls through, the property can be developed as a hamlet under current zoning."
   Mr. Roskos said an on-site package (sewer) plant would need to be built since the "borough (Hopewell) refuses to allow a sewer connection to the Aunt Molly Road sewer plant, which is surrounded on three sides by St. Michael’s property (which is located in Hopewell Township)."
   Borough officials, in fact, do frown on providing sewer service outside of Hopewell and have since the 1980s. According to David Knights, Hopewell Borough councilman, "there is a longstanding ordinance on the borough’s books that prohibits the extension of sewer lines beyond the borough’s limits."
   The plant to which Mr. Roskos refers could serve a "hamlet," which according to Hopewell Township Planner Michael Bolan, "is a small development area of 60-85 acres consisting of 150 to 250 residential units and a minor amount of office/retail that can only be developed/designated if the units are transferred from the township’s VRC (Valley Resource Conservation) and MRC (Mountain Resource Conservation) districts.
   "In addition," Mr. Bolan said, "the location of the hamlet must meet stringent location criteria. The idea of the hamlet is to create small-scale mixed use developments, with multiple forms of residential development (i.e. small lot single family, townhomes, condos and apartments over retail or office), while also preserving the surrounding countryside by the transfer of development potential from the more rural areas of the township to the hamlet."
   Mr. Bolan explained that "the public policy benefits include the creation of an attractive development form generally not otherwise available in the township, while also preserving significant amounts of open space. As an example of the transfer mechanism, in order to build a 150-unit hamlet, 450 acres in the VRC District or 1,050 acres in the MRC District must be deed-restricted against residential development."
   Both VRC and MRC are residential zones. The VRC, in the central section of the township, and the MRC, in the northern section, comprise 29,000 acres.
   "The township already has indicated to St. Mike’s that its property would qualify as a hamlet, provided that the ordinance criteria concerning the transfer of residential units and development form could be met," Mr. Bolan added Monday.
   The idea of the hamlet comes from Hopewell Township’s 2002 Master Plan and Zoning Ordinance.
   Of course, if the D&R Greenway Land Trust gets its money by March 15, all the talk about hamlets, zoning, etc., would be purely academic.
   Ms. Munoz said Monday that "many local community-minded businesses" have given generously to the St. Michael’s Preservation Project.
   They include:
   Amboy National Bank, Antimo’s Italian Kichen, Beechtree Farm, The Blue Bottle Café, Bristol-Myers Squibb, The Brothers Moon, The Car Depot, Casey and the Broken Hearts, Coleman Auto Group, Creative Mediaworks, Cromwell-Immordino Memorial Home, Dana Communications, Demaree & Seitz, LLC, Disch Real Estate.
   Robert Faherty Sr. CPA, Failte Coffeehouse, Henderson Sotheby’s International Realty, Historic Hopewell House, Hopewell Valley Bistro & Inn, The Hopewell Valley Chorus, Hopewell Valley Community Bank, Hopewell Valley News, Hopewell Valley Trailriding Association, Janus Solutions, Jersey Solar, LLC, Kilbourne & Kilbourne, Daniel J. Lyons, Esq., Malek Chevrolet, Medical Claims Relief/Insurance Assistance, Morehouse Engineering, Inc., Morpeth Gallery, LLC, Music Together.
   The Off-Broadstreet Theatre, Pidgeon & Pidgeon, Attorneys at Law, PNC Bank, Princeton Communications Group, Inc., Princeton Design and Installation, LLC, Saums Interiors, Daniel Saporito, DMD, Schulte Restoration, Inc., Soupe de Jour, State Farm Insurance Company, Stellitano Heating & Air Conditioning, Studio ZEN, The Stony Pony, Taft and Partners, LLC, Thomas Design Association, Inc., The Tomato Factory, Trillium Realty Advisors, LLC, Valley Artisans, Valley Oil, Weidel Realtors, Zeus Lightning Rods, Inc.