GOSHEN — More open space will remain that way after the county Farmland and Open Space Trust Fund forks over $1.8 million to purchase 68.611 acres of 300-plus acres along Route 47.
The parcel the county is buying is between Bucks Avenue and Route 47, one of the property’s attributes is a pond. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is buying the remainder of the tract owned by Braddock Enterprises.
Freeholders approved a resolution to finalize the purchase, which was previously given thumbs up by the Open Space Review Board.
The land will be set aside for “recreational open space,” according to the resolution.
“It’s a terrific project that’s very good for the county the residents and good for the environment,” said Barbara Ernst, division director of Open Space and Farmland Preservation.
Ernst added that the county continues to purchase open space from willing sellers, “to protect our landscape.” There are no plans to do anything with the parcel, Ernst said.
The Conservation Fund, a non-profit corporation with offices in Annapolis, Md., was termed something of a “broker”’ by Ernst. The fund will acquire the property in a “bulk sale” for $6.89 million “after having commissioned appraisals by the State of New Jersey, Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Green Acres.”
The state Division of Green Acres issued a “certification of market value” on the parcel for $7,498,600, based upon two appraisals done in 2006.
An updated appraisal, done June 22, 2007, valued two of the parcels, the one at $1.925 million, and the other for $4.966 million, for a total of $6.891 million, “which the property owner has decided to accept,” according to the resolution.
Contingent upon The Conservation Fund’s purchase of the property, the fund agreed to transfer to the county title to Block 50, Lot 3 for $1.8 million.
As part of the purchase agreement, the seller, The Conservation Fund, “is under contract to purchase the real property…pursuant to a contract for bargain sale of real estate between Braddock Enterprises LP, and agrees to sell it to the county for $1.8 million.
Closing is scheduled for Aug. 31.
The agreement was signed on behalf of The Conservation Fund by Jodi R. O’Day, vice president and regional counsel.
Freeholder Director Daniel Beyel will sign for the county.
This Middle Township community has had much land preserved from development, either by farmland preservation or Open Space purchases.
“It started out as a farm nucleus and now it’s expanded,” Ernst said.
Contact Campbell at (609) 886-8600 Ext 28 or at: al.c@cmcherald.com
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