WHITE TOWNSHIP, NJ (Warren County) – Land in Warren County where a massive warehouse project was proposed will instead remain open for farming, after the State Agriculture Development Committee (SADC) closed on a purchase to buy and preserve 566 acres along Route 519 White Township.
“We are so, so excited to see this day come to fruition,” Warren County Commissioner Director James R. Kern III said during an event immediately after stacks of documents were signed to officially complete the $27 million purchase by the state.
The $48,000 per acre sale price is the most New Jersey has ever paid, but many at the closing said the price was worth it to preserve the land and prevent large-scale development at the site situated between a two-lane county road and the Delaware River.
The closing occurred in the same meeting room at White Township’s Municipal Building where contentious meetings took place over the past five years after Jaindl Land Co. purchased the property and announced plans for the warehouse development, sparking public opposition by residents from the township and beyond.
The fight came to an end last November when the SADC announced it had reached an agreement with Jaindl to buy the property and preserve it for agriculture. The state will strip the development rights and re-sell the land to keep it in farming in perpetuity.
“Warren County is a farming community,” Kern said, noting more than 300 farms and close to 30,000 acres in the county already have been preserved, with Warren ranking 4th in the state in farmland preservation.
Kern said he was grateful that land owner David Jaindl was willing to sell and that the state put up the money, noting the county “would not be able to do this on our own.” He also thanked the state and local officials, elected and appointed, as well as county staff who “put many hours in to make this happen.”
NJ Agriculture Secretary Edward D. Wengryn and SADC Executive Director Susan Payne, as well as representatives of Jaindl Land Co. including President David Jaindl spoke at the announcement and later unveiled a “Preserved Farmland” sign erected on the property.
Wengryn remarked that in the 1970s and 1980s, the threat to farmland was from large-scale housing developments, but today large-scale warehouse projects are exerting development pressure. The state is getting ahead of the problem with this preservation purchase, he said.
“Warren County is one of the leaders in farmland protection,” Payne said, explaining it is due to support from the county commissioners and the public, as well as the efforts of people like county Administrator Alex Lazorisak, Land Preservation Director Corey Tierney, and Agriculture Development Board Chairman Joel Schnetzer.
Payne and other speakers praised the efforts of the many volunteers on local land use boards, county agriculture development boards and the people who own the land, who for the most part are in the farming community, for the success of farmland preservation in New Jersey.
Also recognized were the members of the public who fought the development project, known for the bright orange shirts they wore to meetings as a visual reminder of their opposition. Kern saluted the large contingent who attended the property closing, quipping, “I’m going to miss seeing the orange shirts in our commission meetings,” before adding, “Your work and effort will not be forgotten.”
State Sen. Douglas Steinhardt also recognized “all of you folks sitting in the audience today,” saying their perseverance showed “the power of people working together.”
