Zoning to keep U.F. community attractive Former planner discusses master plan revisions, land preservation BY JANE MEGGITT Staff Writer UPPER FREEHOLD - A resident who helped write the state's Agricultural Smart Growth Plan has shared his views on land use issues in the township. Dr. S. Perrine Dey, an equine veterinarian who formerly served as president of the state's Board of Agriculture, has lived in the township his whole life. He grew up on a potato and wheat farm that is now the site of the Lynwood Estates development. Dey and his family have preserved 504 acres of their Heritage Hill Farm on Hill Road. "I think Hill Road is one of the prettiest roads in the state," Dey said. After observing the March 13 Planning Board meeting, Dey said he does not think township officials have the slightest idea where the township is going. The Planning Board has just entered a third year of discussion on revisions to the township's master plan. Dey suggested that the Township Committee, the Planning Board and other boards in town should get together to envision a direction for the township. He noted that the township enacted a country code years ago. "I think it spelled out the vision for Upper Freehold Township," he said of the code. The country code reads, in part, "This document expresses the philosophy of Upper Freehold Township residents. The residents of this township have either been raised here and [have] chosen to stay or [they] moved here because they enjoy the rural life." The code continues, "This community has shown a strong commitment to remaining rural by committing a portion of their tax dollars to farmland preservation; forgoing services taken for granted in suburban and city areas; and traveling the extra distance for the necessities. Many residents have moved to this area because the 'rural atmosphere' of their former hometown has been lost to development." The code further states that residents must remember not to expect "perfectly paved roads, water and sewer service, a local police department, municipal trash pickup, and other luxuries" and must also endure slow-moving farm machinery, tractor noise, and perhaps unpleasant odors of natural fertilizers for the sake of maintaining the country life. According to Dey, previous Planning Board members spent three years changing the township's zoning from 2-acre zoning to the current 3-acre zoning with a 35 percent bonus density for developers who opt to cluster their developments. With the bonus density offered, Dey said the township's zoning really remains at 2 acres. The bonus density raised the value of land in Upper Freehold by one-third, but he said it is an artificial value that affects appraisals for farmland preservation by the State Agricultural Development Committee (SADC), the Green Acres Program and nonprofit land trusts. Dey said the majority of township farmers who put their land into preservation received less than $10,000 per acre for their properties' development rights. "Now, preservation rights are $20,000 to $25,000 an acre," he said. "It's way too high." Dey said farmers need a nest egg for retirement. But, he added, "They don't need $25,000 an acre to do that. It throws it out of kilter." Dey suggested that township officials consider Princeton Nurseries' concept of a village center, which would preserve the majority of that company's farmland, he said. By using the company's village center concept, according to Dey, the township would be able to create a large agricultural land base that would help ensure the viability of farming. Dey believes ratables within the village center, which would be off Ellisdale Road near Polhemustown Road, would pay county, township and school taxes so the rest of the township would not have additional property tax consequences. Both the state's Smart Growth and Agricultural Smart Growth plans would allow for the creation of a sewage treatment plant in such a village, according to Dey, who said the plant could also serve a new middle school on Ellisdale Road. Dey said that if the landowner opted to create a village center on White Birch Farm, it would be built on about 40 acres of the 390-acre property. He said the center could have a sewage treatment plant that could also service nearby Imlaystown, which is currently plagued with wastewater service issues. The potential development centers could be built using the transfer density method, he said. While both potential village centers could not support all possible development credits from the remaining developable land in town, Dey said most of the town's major horse facilities are not planning to be developed soon, since they are centrally located to racetracks, including those in Pennsylvania, Delaware and New York that just added slot machines as additional incentives. Other large farms in town, he said, are owned by farmers who want to keep farming. "The Township Committee and Planning Board, over the last 40 years, have done an excellent job of land use management," he said. "That's why Upper Freehold is such a great place to live." If the township can't continue a similar type of land use situation, Dey said it won't remain the attractive community that has drawn in new residents. "Sprawl will eat up the agricultural acreage," he said. Dey, a member of the township's Economic Development Committee (EDC), said the group was charged from "day one" to bring in and provide land for potential commercial development. He believes the Breza Road tract, which is located in the only commercial sewered zone in the community, has the most value for ratables. "It should be zoned commercial," he said of the Breza Road tract, which could become the site of the new middle school if voters approve an April 17 referendum. "It should not be where the Board of Education is looking to put a middle school," Dey said. At the March 2 Land Use Summit held on Rutgers University's Cook College campus in New Brunswick, Mayor Stephen Fleischacker made a presentation about land use in the township, according to Dey. "Two things bothered me," Dey said of Fleischacker's presentation. The first notion that bothered Dey was that Fleischacker said the master plan would be completed by the end of June. "I don't see how that could occur," Dey said. The second thing that bothered Dey about Fleischacker's presentation was his idea of transferring agricultural land credits from the township to other municipalities for the redevelopment of older suburbs and urban areas. Dey said such "browntown" areas would have to be developed before any credits could be paid. According to Township Planner Mark Remsa, the proposed concept is permissible under the state's new transfer of development rights (TDR) statute. However, Remsa said intermunicipal TDR transfers have not yet happened. In Dey's view, the township's Agricultural Advisory Committee (AAC) should spearhead a list of farms it would like to see preserved. He said the AAC should talk to farmers and encourage them to go into farmland preservation. However, he said that although members have been appointed to the AAC, the committee has not met in three years. According to Monmouth County Farmland Preservation official Harriet Honigfeld, land going into farmland preservation will only be grandfathered in with 1998 zoning through the state's fiscal year 2008 budget, which starts in July "Once Upper Freehold spends its existing Planning Incentive Grant (PIG) funds plus whatever it gets for fiscal year 2008, it has to appraise properties on the list at 2004 and current zoning," she said. "Any property not on the preapproved list automatically has to be appraised at 2004 and current zoning." Dey said that this would affect the township's farming community because Upper Freehold currently has 3-acre zoning, and in 1998 it had 2-acre zoning. Land appraised according to current zoning would be worth two-thirds the amount it would be appraised for with 1998 zoning. By putting land in preservation, Dey said his family has created a legacy for the township that will forever maintain its beauty and character. "It's the responsibility of the people of Upper Freehold to get together and figure out what they want and figure out a way to secure it," he said.