E.B. seeks purchase
of 147-acre property
Heavenly Farms would be largest acquisition under open space program
By vincent todaro
Staff Writer

East Brunswick officials were all smiles Monday as they announced plans to purchase and preserve the 147-acre property known as Heavenly Farms.

Located adjacent to the Middlesex County Fairgrounds, the property abuts the intersection of Dunhams Corner and Cranbury roads, near the township’s border with South Brunswick.

The Township Council introduced an ordinance Monday that would enable the purchase at a cost of just over $12 million. The township would be expected to receive 50 percent of the funds from the state Green Acres program and 30 percent from Middlesex County, according to council President Donald Klemp.

He said East Brunswick would cover its portion of the price — about $2.4 million — with money from its open space fund.

Township Attorney Michael Baker said the township reached a deal with the owner of the property, Atlantic Realty, to purchase the land upon certain conditions. One of those conditions requires the owner to drop out of a lawsuit brought against the township by numerous property owners who are challenging the new 6-acre rural preservation zoning ordinance. Baker said that if the sale does not go through, the company could re-enter the lawsuit.

Klemp said the township does not yet know what it will use the property for, and said it may just be left as it is. Baker said some areas of the tract are wooded, but that most of the property is an open field.

"About 140 acres are pretty open. It’s one of the most beautiful pieces in the town," Baker said.

Passage of the ordinance would also represent the largest open space purchase ever made by East Brunswick. The township has used open space funds toward the purchase of three other properties — the 39-acre Lapinski farm and the 27-acre Kelemen farm, both near Ryders Lane and Cranbury Road, and the 35-acre Giamarese farm on Fresh Ponds Road.

The Heavenly Farms property is actually comprised of two parcels — one made up of 104.1 acres and the other 43.5 acres.

Officials said that under previous zon­ing, the property could have been devel­oped with 490 houses, many of which would be modular units. The land is now part of a large section of East Brunswick that is zoned for one house per 6 acres, al­though that zoning is being challenged in court.

One of the primary reasons officials want to purchase the land is to keep it from being developed with housing. Klemp said that a development of homes on the site would bring more of a strain on the school system, as well as the township’s infras­tructure and other services.

The council president described the property as relatively flat, and said it could be used for athletic fields or perhaps a bi­cycle or running track. He said it is too early to say exactly how the township will use the property, and that it might just be kept as is.

Baker said the property is fallow, but has been farmed in the past.

"It’s the most beautiful piece of land in the township," Klemp said.

The township still needs to perform its due diligence, Baker said, which will in­clude doing title work as well as environ­mental and wetlands studies.

A public hearing is scheduled to be held at the June 23 council meeting. If the council adopts the ordinance that night, it would then have 90 days to perform the due diligence, Baker said. Officials would have until the end of the year to finalize de­tails related to the financing, and then 30 days to close on the purchase.

After the meeting, Councilwoman Catherine Diem said she was thrilled with the proposal to purchase the property.

"I’m just really, really pleased," she said.

Baker said the township had "very posi­tive" discussions with the state Department of Environmental Protection about the property. Negotiations on the purchase first began about five years ago, he said.

Mayor William Neary is expected to give a full presentation on the proposal during the June 23 meeting.