Eight years ago, when West Windsor adopted the first farmland preservation element to its Master Plan, there were plenty of farms that needed to be protected from the grasps of developers.
Now, with only about 59 acres targeted for preservation through 2015, officials are shifting their sights toward seeing those already-preserved farms thrive.
A new farmland preservation plan element has been drafted, and members of the township’s Agricultural Advisory Committee got their first look at it on April 26. The meeting was the first of several scheduled before the draft heads to the Planning Board sometime in June.
“It is the intent of this plan element to continue support for the effort and provide a further basis for the preservation of agriculture as a viable industry within the township,” the draft plan states. “This element identifies sites that are to be retained specifically for the continuation of agriculture, providing a greater basis for the retention of these farms and the business of agriculture in West Windsor.”
According to Sam Surtees, the township’s Division of Land Use manager, the township’s goal in 2002 was primarily on preservation. “We’ve done a really good job over the last eight years in preserving farms,” he said. The plan goes to the next step, which is to “preserve farming as a business and industry in West Windsor.”
Aside from three properties that will complete the township’s own preservation program, the township will be working with the Mercer County agricultural board to preserve an enclave of remaining farmland in both West Windsor and Robbinsville.
That enclave of farms runs along Old Trenton and Windsor roads, up through the Mercer County Community College campus, through Mercer County Park, and off Village Road East.
Specifically, the plan identifies the farm enclaves falling within Mercer County’s West Windsor/Robbinsville Agricultural Development Area, which is one of seven regional farm areas in the county.
In West Windsor, the farms are located off South Lane and include the Hall farm, at 126.85 acres; the Procaccini farm, at 17.37 acres; the Conover farm, at about 27.25 acres; and JEM Stables, at about 7.81 acres in the West Windsor portion of the property.
“Funding and taxes make it very difficult now in the world we live in,” said Surtees. This is why the township is recommended a “transfer of development rights” program for the remaining properties.
A transfer of development rights program is a realty transfer system in which development potential in a specified preservation area can be purchased by private investors for use in a targeted growth area. In exchange for a cash payment, landowners in the preservation area place a restrictive easement on the property that will maintain the resource into perpetuity. The land in the designated receiving area can then be developed at a higher density than allowed under the baseline zoning, according to the state Department of Community Affairs.
In addition to preserving 59 acres of farmland between 2010 and 2015, the draft plan states two additional goals: to recognize agriculture as a historically significant economic industry and encourage economic opportunities in this industry, and promote agritourism.
The plan also measures the number of acres between 1999 and 2008 used for growing crops. The previous plan reported 7,532 acres of cropland in 1986. “Therefore, West Windsor’s crop-producing acreage has been reduced by 4,694 acres between 1986 and 2008. Soy beans have seen one of the largest crop reductions, more than 44 percent, or 641 acres.”
The plan also measures livestock. Egg-laying chickens have seen the largest increase between 1998 and 2008, while sheep had the biggest decrease. Compared to data in 1986, there were more egg-laying chickens in 1998 than in 1986.
The major focus now, however, is promoting agriculture-related businesses, as there are currently none in West Windsor.
“One of the recommendations in the farmland preservation element is to adopt an economic element, which basically takes a look at not just farming, but how to attract businesses to a community,” Surtees said. “What we’re taking a look at is what we can do to support agriculture as a business in West Windsor.”
One of the recommendations suggests that officials make it easier for farmers to set up farm stands and sell farm-related products on their properties that aren’t specifically grown on their properties. “Right now, the code says you have to sell things specifically grown on the property,” Surtees explained. Surtees said that as part of the effort, questionnaires were distributed to local farmers who farm almost 1,000 acres of property, and officials will be incorporating those comments into the plan.
