David Cook and Glenn Johnson, Democratic candidates, Cranbury
This past weekend as we walked door-to-door meeting the residents of Cranbury we would occasionally get the chance to look around at hundreds of acres of soybeans and corn that have turned and are soon to be harvested. It drives home how fortunate we are that Cranbury had the foresight for the last 25-plus years to begin saving farmland. Yes, open space is beautiful to look at but that’s not the whole story. Saving open space as operating farms is a significant tool in municipal cost control.
Protecting farmland and open space in Cranbury goes back decades as a bi-partisan movement to keep our town beautiful and fiscally responsible. As a result of the purchase of farms, through programs like the state farmland preservation program, Green Acres and D&R Greenway, Cranbury has been able to effectively balance the amount of residential and commercial development in town. This saves Cranbury money over the long term in reduced expenses in utility infrastructure and school construction costs. The preserving of open space has also helped reduce our affordable housing obligation.
The fiscal benefits of land preservation have been born out in a summary of Cost of Community Services Studies released by the American Farmland Trust in August of 2007. This study compiled COCS studies from 128 communities in the United States, including New Jersey. A copy of this study can be found at www.farmlandinfo.com. The bottom line: farmland and open spaces were found to consistently generate more in the way of local taxes than they consume in local services.
Recently, we spoke with Brian Schilling of Cranbury who is an administrator at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences at Rutgers and an advocate of land preservation. He mentioned that a referendum would be on the ballot Nov. 3 to extend state funding for farmland and open space preservation. Supported by the Keep It Green Coalition www.njkeepitgreen.org, the ballot question seeks to fund the Garden State Preservation Trust, the primary state funding program for land preservation in New Jersey. This trust essentially is depleted and needs additional funding to continue its mission. This is a state funding referendum and wont affect our local taxes. With 2,200 acres of farmland, more than half of our remaining agricultural base, under permanent preservation, Cranbury has been a major beneficiary of state-supported land preservation programs. Please consider this ballot item seriously when voting in November. We support open space for all the fiscally and aesthetically right reasons.
David Cook
Glenn Johnson
Cranbury
Mr. Johnson and Mr. Cook are the Democratic candidates for Cranbury Township Committee.
