Yet Another Delay for Jon Stewart's Colts Neck Farm Proposal

COLTS NECK, NJ - More delays for Tracey and Jon Stewart's hopes to open a farm sanctuary in Colts Neck. Testimony lasted for three hours at the Tuesday night meeting of the Colts Neck Planning Board, where the Stewarts outlined their plans to convert Hockhockson Farm on Rt. 537 into an educational center and animal rescue sanctuary. However, the Colts Neck Planning Board decided to postpone preliminary approval of the project until its next meeting on January 10, according to the Asbury Park Press.

Now that Jon Stewart has retired from "The Daily Show" fame, he and his wife currently live in Red Bank, and own a 12-acre working farm in Middletown, New Jersey. The couple wants to expand their Monmouth County farming footprint: They seek to purchase the 45-acre Hockhockson Farm in leafy Colts Neck and turn it into a shelter for livestock rescued from slaughterhouses, as well as an agriculture educational center.

In the past, Tracey has said she envisions about 150 visitors a day to the farm, where they can learn about sustainable agriculture. An estimated 20 farmhands will work on the property, tending to the four to six cows, two to four pigs, six to 10 sheep, six to 10 goats, two to four horses and up to 50 chickens that would live there — all rescued farm animals. "We would like all of our local schools to come. All the schools that are in this area," Tracey Stewart, a former vet technician, told the Colts Neck Planning Board Tuesday night, according to the report.

Here are the Stewarts' latest proposals for the farm, as they told the board Tuesday night:

• They would like to build a visitor's center, a greenhouse, a parking lot big enough to fit 60 cars and a turf field for overflow parking.
• Outdoor lighting will be minimal so as not to bother neighbors.
• Visitors will only be allowed by appointment Wednesday through Sunday.
• The farm will hold four fundraisers a year with a maximum of 250 guests. The farm would not be rented out for events such as weddings.
• Jon Stewart would not open a video production studio on the site, something he originally proposed.

The Stewarts originally wanted the farm open in 2017. However, the Planning Board's latest delay means the opening will likely be pushed back to 2018, according to the Asbury Park Press.

Past Patch coverage:

Jon and Tracey Stewart's Colts Neck Farm Proposal Hits a Few Speedbumps

Jon Stewart's Farm Proposal Back Up for Vote Tuesday Night

Jon Stewart Wants to Buy Colts Neck Farm, Turn it into Animal Sanctuary