Marlboro Hires Expect To Look At Future Of Stattel Farm

MARLBORO, NJ - Township officials are moving forward on their plans to preserve Stattel Farm - which officials fought to acquire for nine years - as farmland and open space.

Township Council officials awarded a professional service contract Nov. 30 to Maser Consulting, P.A. of Red Bank to prepare a green acres survey for the farm, Route 520. The contract will not exceed $908.50.

Conducting such a survey is a crucial component of preservation, officials have said

Marlboro Township purchased and preserved 56 acres of the farm, which sold flowers and crops in the community since 1907, according to the farm's Facebook page. The farm is more precisely located at Routes 520 and 79. The acquisition will preserve the farm as open space in a move Mayor Sal Hornik described as a "historic moment" for the town.

The township acquired two parcels: a 47.5-acre site are on the west side of Route 520 - the farm stand - and 8.5 acres on the east side of Route 520. Under the agreement, a third 30-acre parcel located on the north bound side of Route 79 adjacent to the A&P shopping center would be protected from further litigation, officials said.

The Stattel Farm has long been a "target" farm designated by Monmouth County and the township for preservation and has been included in the township's Open Space and Recreation Plan since 2001.

Under prior administrations, the farm was zoned for housing, Hornik has said. As recently as 2014, a developer made an application for more than 500 units to be built on the site, potentially creating a traffic nightmare at the already heavily trafficked intersection.

The acquisition does not impact the budget or local taxes. The township applied land preservation funding already authorized and in place, including the township's dedicated Open Space Trust Fund, a state Green Acres matching grant and state Agricultural Development Committee funding in order to complete the purchase.

In the past few years, Marlboro has logged several open space preservation successes with the Tennent Road (30 acres), Smith Farm (16 acres), Penksa Farm (21 acres) and Baydock Holdings (50 acres) projects.

Exploring the bounty of New Jersey farms. Photograph by Mel Evans/Associated Press.