In recent years we have often heard from the township that a large percentage of West Windsor’s land has been preserved and saved from development. The township will tell you that 48.5 percent of the land in the township has been preserved. But when we discuss preserving land, we have to be clear about what “preserve” means. In this discussion “preserve” means undeveloped — for any purpose. That is, if it was most recently a farm, it’s still a farm. If it was a forest, it’s still a forest. If it was some other kind of “open space,” it’s still that same kind of open space. To accomplish this outcome, it’s clear that the owner has either kept it in its original condition and decided not to sell it for development, or sold it to the township or state as “open space,” in which case the owner will receive funds raised through the open space tax, either state, local, or both.
The statewide effort to preserve open space has been going on for a long time. During the 1950s it became obvious that the “Garden State” would no longer remain true to that moniker unless something was done at the state level to slow down the mad dash to build new housing and businesses that might someday occupy the entire state. No more woods. No more fields. Just wall-to-wall buildings.
Many people anticipated that the massive urban area composed of New York City, Newark, and Jersey City would burst its seams and spread to much of the rest of the state. Oh sure, parts of Connecticut and Long Island, and Westchester County in New York would be vulnerable, too, but New Jersey was a whole state just waiting to be transformed. At the same time there was the possibility that the same thing would happen in the part of the state that surrounds Philadelphia, our other major bordering population center. Fortunately not everyone saw that fate as a benefit. Even so New Jersey is still today by far the most densely populated state in the country.
The first major preservation effort in New Jersey was that of the “Pinelands,” which in 1978 became the first National Reserve of open space. They had been the subject of John McPhee’s popular 1967 book “The Pine Barrens.” Since that time most New Jersey governors have been supporters of open space preservation. In 1999 Governor Whitman approved the Garden State Preservation Trust Act, which authorized funding to implement the acquisition of open space land. This set off major localized efforts throughout the state to preserve open space. In West Windsor the significant effort had already begun.
In the early 1990s a number of prominent citizens had formed an organization that would lead the local effort to implement the preservation of what open space we had before it was all covered with houses, office buildings, and schools. Under the leadership of Bernt Midland — chairman of the Shade Tree Committee — interested citizens were brought together to discuss the possibilities.
By that time — under the state’s leadership — the idea of an open space tax dedicated to land preservation was well known to many, and the idea of county and local open space taxes for land purchase and maintenance was not new. Through Midland’s efforts — and those of a few others of similar purpose — the organization Friends of West Windsor Open Space (FOWWOS) was formed in 1996. It was soon incorporated as a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization.
Many in West Windsor are familiar with the sign at the Hightstown Road entrance to the municipal park designating “Bernt Midland Boulevard.” It honors a man who, over many years, initiated and led significant public efforts to help the township — all without political intent or involvement of any kind — just doing what he took to be the duty of a good Lions Club member and IBM employee. When he sensed there was a problem of public interest that the local government was not attending to adequately, he initiated a public effort to address it.
A typical example involved traffic trouble spots. There had been three traffic fatalities in the township in the space of about five years during the ’80s. Midland made known his desire to hold a public meeting at which he would hear citizens tell of places in the township where they thought there was a dangerous or potentially dangerous traffic situation that needed official attention. He set up a meeting in an unoccupied store front at the Acme shopping center (now Windsor Plaza), and many people came with suggestions. These were passed on to the township government and the police department. A number of improvements in traffic safety resulted.
In one case a simple, yet potentially dangerous situation had been noticed shortly after WW-P High School South was opened in 1973. At that time the speed limit on Hightstown Road (Route 571) was 50 miles per hour. But in the east-bound lane just at Clarksville Road there was a sign that said “School Zone 25 mph.” Then after crossing Clarksville Road the first thing a driver would see, just as he came to the school driveway, was a sign that said “Speed Limit 50.” As a result of Midland’s meeting the state was notified and the “Speed Limit 50” sign was removed from in front of the school. (Today, of course, the problem is back, but the numbers are different. On Route 571 the speed limit is 40 instead of 50, the school zone limit before you come to the school is 30, and the limit right in front of the school is given as 45.)
The first tangible step in open space preservation in West Windsor was the final specification of the West Windsor greenbelt plan by the Planning Board in 1977. This defined all the areas of the township that had not yet been developed and which consisted of open fields or woods. Any proposals for development in those areas would have to be approved by the Planning Board. Also, it was decided that land that might be preserved as open space would be taken from the greenbelt, as well.
In 1993 the township created a 1-cent open space tax for the purpose of acquiring the Grover Farm, West Windsor’s first open space purchase. That 1-cent tax was in effect for two years, when it was raised to 2 cents in 1995. In 1998 a referendum was held to approve raising the open space tax to 7 cents per $100 of assessed value ($280 for a home valued at $400,000). The referendum passed by a large margin, and West Windsor thereby became the township with the largest investment in potential open space preservation in the entire state. In 1995 the principal potential purchases using the second cent were the Crawford Woods and the Blyman Farm on Edinburg Road. The increase to 7 cents made possible the consideration of many of the other potential properties in the greenbelt, and FOWWOS members began the active pursuit of many of these through discussions with the owners.
The Crawford Woods property is located in Princeton Junction on Alexander Road between Harris Road and Scott Avenue. Across Alexander Road lies the so-called Acme Woods. At one time it was claimed that the “woods” could never be developed because of an agreement between the original developer of the Acme and the township that would make that impossible. It turns out that there never was such an agreement, but because of zoning restrictions and other real estate considerations the township now believes there is no potential for that area ever being developed.
During the past decade, as a result of property re-evaluations, the West Windsor open space tax has diminished. Today it stands at 2 cents per $100 of assessed value. This also reflects the fact that a significant fraction of potential open space acquisitions have already been made. But, although much of the goal for which FOWWOS was created has been met, there is still work to be done to monitor the way the township’s new open space is used and cared for.
Now if only the Howard Hughes folks will come around to appreciating open space as much as we do, we’ll all be better off.
