The Monmouth County Board of Freeholders will acquire a large piece of land in Upper Freehold Township and add the parcel to an existing park.
According to a resolution, the Monmouth County Board of Recreation Commissioners has found it necessary to acquire and preserve the Lustgarten property in Upper Freehold. The 117-acre parcel will be added to Crosswicks Creek Park, portions of which touch Route 537 and Route 539.
The acquisition of the Lustgarten property will also be used for the greenway at Crosswicks, according to Karen Livingstone, public information officer for the Monmouth County Park System.
“The property will be added to complete Crosswicks Creek Park while offering open space and the potential for public access trail development,” Livingstone said.
A formal offer of purchase reliant upon satisfactory title and environmental review of the property in the amount of $2,069,964 has been accepted, according to the resolution. The funds are covered under the county’s Open Space, Recreation, Floodplain Protection, Farmland and Historic Preservation Trust Fund.
Livingstone said purchases such as the Lustgarten property are made to preserve the space and resources of the land.
“Most purchases that are made along the Crosswicks Creek Greenway are in order to protect wetlands and water resources,” she said.
Crosswicks Creek Park contains more than 1,500 acres and has Historic Walnford as its center landmark, according to the Monmouth County Park System website.
A majority of the park forms a corridor of land around Crosswicks Creek. The rest of the farmland that surrounds the park is preserved by the county and state farmland preservation program. Crosswicks Creek Park is noted for activities that include hiking and fishing, according to the website.