U.F. officials push for preserving land on Breza Road
Landowner willing to sell property near middle school site
BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

UPPER FREEHOLD - The preservation of a 135-acre tract on Breza Road versus its potential as a commercial ratable was the topic of discussion at the May 17 Township Committee meeting.

The tract under review is adjacent to the 118-acre parcel that voters chose in an April 17 referendum to be the site of the new middle school. Both tracts are located in the township's only sewer service area.

There have been various proposals for the acreage over the years, including a golf course with a residential community as well as a mixed-use community with 375 residential units and commercial and open space. Most recently, the site was slated to be developed as warehouse space by the New York City-based Rockefeller Group, which withdrew its application last November after a great deal of community opposition.

Mayor Stephen Fleischacker said that the property in question is on both sides of Breza Road and that it consists of farm fields and the greenway corridors of Doctors Creek.

Preserving the land would improve water quality for those water bodies that the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has designated as impaired primarily due to excessive nutrients, according to Fleischacker. He said preservation could also allow for the future construction of trails leading from the school and Allentown's Heritage Park to the Breza Road property.

According to Fleischacker, the landowner, Neil Van Cleef, is willing to sell the acreage next to the school site at a substantially reduced price, although the amount cannot be revealed at this time.

With regard to the parcel being located in the township's only sewer service area, Fleischacker said that if the township wants sewerage for commercial purposes, it can designate other sewered areas to serve those purposes through its master plan.

"If we decide to preserve this ground and lose [these] 135 acres, we as a governing body can move [sewerage] somewhere else," he said.

Fleischacker said that any potential development on the Breza Road property would have to be substantial enough to pay for improvements to the road and its bridges. Preserving the land would not only benefit schoolchildren, he said, but it would also create a focal point for the community.

Discussions about preserving the property began with the nonprofit Trust for Public Land, Fleischacker said, and also involved the state Green Acres and county preservation programs. As a result of the nonprofit's involvement, Fleischacker said the amount taxpayers would have to pay for the preservation would be 10 percent of the total cost, which is lower than the normal 16 percent of a municipality's share for farmland preservation.

"We can put ratables where people don't want to preserve - in high-traffic areas - if it means enhancing with sewers and the community is behind it," he said.

Committeeman David Reed said a landowner willing to preserve land is getting harder to come by, "especially at the price he is willing to do it."

Reed said the township should consider using other areas for commercial uses.

Fleischacker said that the classic home rule situation in New Jersey is to put commercial uses on communities' borders. He said that is what Washington Township did to Upper Freehold when it allowed the Matrix warehouses to be built on their shared border.

By moving ahead with preserving the land on Breza Road, Fleischacker said Upper Freehold would be making a statement that responsible planning works at the local level.

"We can put uses at the borders that are synergistic with our neighbors," he said. "If we preserve land at our borders, I believe Washington Township will do the same."

Washington Township Mayor David Fried said his municipality is interested in preserving property next to the land in question.

"I had a very nice meeting with [Fleischacker] in Trenton at a Smart Growth meeting," Fried said. "He explained his logic for the preservation. I think he has a good handle on this, and we are looking forward to working with him."

Fried said Washington Township has quite a bit of land preserved on its borders and that this piece, now zoned residential, would also be a good fit for preservation.

"It would protect the residents that live on that road, as well as help both our neighbors in Allentown and Upper Freehold," he said.

Upper Freehold Deputy Mayor William Miscoski said the Breza Road land should have had warehouses on it for ratables, but since that is not happening, he thinks it should be preserved.

"The price per acre that the landowner is willing to sell for is an opportunity that won't come again," he said.

Miscoski added, "We're never getting sewers. We're never getting commercial development. We've missed the boat so many times in this town."

He alleged that every time a good commercial proposal is made in Upper Freehold, people don't want it.

"People don't want anything in this town - period," he said. "They don't want any development. I think we should zone the entire town at 100 acres and forget about it."

Committeeman Stephen Alexander said his biggest concern is that losing the Breza Road tract's sewer designation would only bring sewers inside the township, not only for commercial development, but for the high-density residential development currently being planned for by the majorities of the Township Committee and Planning Board.

"This wasn't just about commercial development to me - I didn't separate the two," he said. "A center development on Breza [Road], large or small, would have had less adverse impact on the majority of the community than other locations being discussed."

Alexander added, "I caution those residents that live on Ellisdale Road: [if] Princeton Nurseries at the corner of Polhemustown and Ellisdale becomes a center with sewer, there will be significant impact on Ellisdale Road, and that has always been my concern."