Robbinsville Township voters decisively voiced their feelings on a months-long dispute between municipal officials and a developer on Election Day, approving an increased open space tax by a nearly 2-to-1 margin.
The increased tax will provide the funds necessary for the township to purchase a 210-acre lot on Robbinsville-Edinburg Road where construction had begun on the 50-home Washington Woods development. It will also allow the township to preserve the site of Miry Run Golf Course, preventing further development there.
Next, the township must to go to court to condemn the Washington Woods property, posting bonds equal to the estimated value of the land—$8M, based on the township’s appraisal. The township would receive the title for the land in exchange for the bonds.
The township already has secured that money, in part thanks to $2M pledged by the Mercer County government. But the matter cannot go forward until Judge Paul Innes concludes an already-scheduled hearing on the dispute Dec. 2. In the meantime, the township is negotating with the landowner about the purchase price of the land.
If the court accepts Robbinsville Township’s motion to condemn, the developer would no longer own the property, and could not continue work on it.
Three judges then would be appointed to determine the land’s fair value. The developer also obtained a property appraisal, which came in at $11M. The judges most likely will settle for a mid-point between the township’s $8M and the developer’s $11M. Mayor Dave Fried said this would be a win for Robbinsville Township considering the developer previously had asked for as much as $20M for the property.
This was all made possible by the approved ballot measure, which proposed raising taxes by 1.5 cents for $100 of assessed value. It passed 4,636 votes to 2,468, and won in all nine of Robbinsville’s voting districts. The township said 81 percent of registered voters turned out.
“I was obviously thrilled,” Fried said. “It’s never easy to convince people to raise their own taxes.”
Once the Washington Woods matter has been resolved, Fried said the township will turn its attention to the Miry Run Golf Course. Fried has estimated it will cost the township $2M to obtain the property.
Other election results
Incumbents Matthew O’Grady and Thomas Halm, Jr. won re-election to the Robbinsville Board of Education, with newcomer Jane Luciano also earning a three-year term. Incumbent Keith Kochberg finished fourth.
Democrat Diane Gerofsky earned another term as Mercer County surrogate. Robbinsville resident Dave Boyne, Gerofsky’s opponent, won the vote in his hometown, 3,401-3,196.
Republican Chris Smith easily defeated Lorna Phillipson in the race for United States Congress. Smith will head to Washington, D.C. for his 19th term.
Robbinsville was one of only two municipalities in Mercer County to have a district go for president-elect Donald Trump. Districts 2, 3 and 5—all on the township’s eastern side—picked Trump, as did 36 of Hamilton’s 64 voting districts. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote in every Mercer County municipality, including Robbinsville and Hamilton.
Police responded to the site of Washington Woods in September after residents stood between construction crews and trees on the property.,
