Cranbury Lions Club President Rick Burke said Monday that the Lions are still aiming to establish a use and occupancy agreement for the wagon house, the oldest 18th century barn on Cranbury Neck Road.
By: Lacey Korevec
Cranbury Lions Club President Rick Burke said Monday that the Lions are still aiming to establish a use and occupancy agreement for the wagon house, the oldest 18th century barn on Cranbury Neck Road.
The township introduced an ordinance Aug. 31 that would allow the Lions and the Historical and Preservation Society to repair the barn and use it for storage, but the ordinance was never adopted because of unresolved insurance issues.
Since the calendar year changed, the committee would have to reintroduce the ordinance in order to adopt it, Township Attorney Trishka Waterbury said.
"The next step if the township and Lions are moving forward with the process is for the language of the lease to be finalized and for the township to introduce and adopt an ordinance approving that document," she said.
Committeeman Wayne Wittman said the township will continue working with the Lions on getting a new ordinance introduced and adopted.
"If we can get it worked out over the next week and get it ready for introduction on the 12th (of March) then we’ll do that," he said.
If approved, a new ordinance would allow the Lions Club to use $50,000 from the Historical and Preservation Society, along with donations from the community, to repair and preserve the Wagon House.
The Wagon House is located on township-owned property, along with two other barns, the Potato Barn and the Corn Crib. All three of the structures date back to the 1700s and are in deteriorating condition.
The barns were acquired by the township in 2003 through a developer’s agreement with Sharbell Development Corp. The corporation bought the 51-acre Updike property to build 16 single-family houses on it. As part of the agreement, Sharbell gave the barns and approximately 30 acres to the township, which designated it as open space. The barns are located on a less than 1-acre parcel.

