U.F. mayor has new idea to preserve land equity
Fleischacker considers investment fund over downzoning
BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

UPPER FREEHOLD - Mayor Stephen Fleischacker will pitch an investment fund concept to large landowners in the township.

Fleischacker, who opted not to run in the Republican primary, recently announced he will run as an independent candidate in the November general election.

Fleischacker said the investment fund concept intends to create greater economic incentives for farmers and other landowners to preserve their properties. The concept would help qualify landowners for investment opportunities in cities and older suburban areas, which could result in higher returns than if they developed their land.

Fleischacker said competing investment opportunities in a free market system could help discourage residential development in farming areas.

The mayor said the township would use this concept rather than straight downzoning, which could result in landowner equity loss. The township, which currently has 3-acre zoning and a bonus density option for landowners who agree to cluster development on their properties, has pondered downzoning to 6-acre lots and removing the cluster option in recent years.

Fleischacker said his investment fund concept could also provide alternative investment strategies and compensation opportunities for landowners who might be affected by state-imposed environmental restrictions.

The mayor said private investors who opted to use this concept would fund desired development in the state's cities and older suburban areas while promoting the preservation of farmland and agricultural viability for future generations. He said these two concepts are both objectives of the New Jersey State Development and Redevelopment Plan.

"Creating new economic opportunities for farmers and large landowners not only benefits the individual farmers and large landowners," he said, "but would [also] be beneficial for agricultural communities such as Upper Freehold Township because more potential capital would be made available to invest in farms, and the viability of those farms would be enhanced by the greater number of acres remaining in agriculture through preservation."

Fleischacker said the investment fund concept requires much more thought, consideration and discussion. However, he said the concept would not entail transferring the development rights of properties in the township to cities and older suburban areas.

"While density transfer across municipal and county boundaries was initially contemplated, it proved to be far too complicated," he said.

Instead, Fleischacker believes the concept should involve establishing a public-private fund using special state tax incentives.

Fleischacker said he is also contemplating a complementary program, which would be a municipally funded initiative to promote installment purchase agreements for preserving farmland.

"That could have less impact on Upper Freehold Township's bonding capacity," Fleischacker said.

The implementation of the latter initiative would require a referendum vote similar to a local open space tax referendum, he said, but it would be restricted to farmland preservation.

When asked how long he thought it would take to put an investment fund in place, Fleischacker estimated that it would take two to five years.