Money getting tight for land preservation
State gets more rigorous in property selection process
BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

UPPER FREEHOLD - The rules for planning incentive grants have changed, according to Township Administrator Barbara Bascom.

Bascom gave the Township Committee an update of the new rules at its June 7 meeting. She told township officials that she recently attended a meeting of the State Agriculture Development Com-mittee (SADC), which oversees the planning incentive grant (PIG) program.

According to the SADC Web site, the first planning incentive grants were awarded in 2001. The site describes these grants as an important tool to help counties and municipalities preserve farmland in designated project areas through a streamlined application process.

Under the new rules, properties under 10 acres will no longer be eligible for the PIG program, according to Bascom.

"They want larger acre farms," she said. "The money is getting tighter, and they will be more particular in the farms they take."

The new rules also stipulate that breeding farms will be the only type of equine facilities considered for funding under the PIG program, according to Bascom.

Bascom said that people who have already had properties accepted into the PIG program are assured of funding.

To ensure the preservation of more land in the township, Bascom asked residents to contact their legislators and urge the replenishment of the Garden State Preservation Trust (GSPT).

Mayor Stephen Fleischacker said that it will be very important for the governing body to work with township landowners if the GSPT disappears for one year.

"If [landowners] see the program disappear, they will get scared," he said, adding that they may rush to development.

Fleischacker said the state funding previously available for preservation may not be there in the future. He suggested that the township consider funding its own installment purchase agreement program.

"If we don't get farmers into preservation, there will be further downzoning as a result of state action," he said.

Deputy Mayor William Miscoski said the town should consider an across-the-board tax for land preservation.