Readers may be interested in the discussion about the Grover house as it was being vacated by Mrs. Grover. This is a partial transcript of council’s agenda session of February 17, 2009. Sam Surtees is West Windsor’s land use manager. George Borek and Linda Geevers were on council, attended the meeting, and asked questions. Mayor Hsueh was not present.
Surtees: “As you’re probably aware, Mr. Grover passed away a couple of months ago. He and his wife had life rights to use the house and the structures on the property. Mrs. Grover has indicated that she no longer wants to live in the residence and she’s looking to vacate her life rights which will actually be tomorrow. What the administration would like to do is talk to council tonight about the possibility of leasing the residence for an additional revenue for the township.
“Currently we’re leasing tonight on this piece of property, we’re leasing about maybe 80 acres or so of that to a local farmer in the community who may continue to farm it. The township is also leasing, will be leasing effective March 1, some of the farms there to some of the other local farmers to produce additional revenue. What we thought we would do is to seek guidance from Council on what you would like to be said on a lease agreement and allow for a public bid and lease the residential structure.”
[Discussion ensued about whether the town should be leasing houses at all.]
Surtees: “The township currently leases a residential house so we are in that business right now. The oil tank was removed from the property, which the Grovers had done. The property’s been upgraded, it’s on public sewer and also public water, natural gas was put on the site, the furnace has been redone, so the property’s in pretty good condition right now.
“The last six months the township Public Works department has been responsible for cutting the grass and the shrubs, cleaning up around the site, so we’re apparently doing that and we’ll continue to do that. It’s totally up to the council whether they want us to proceed, possibly pulling in between $20 and $24 thousand additional a year in revenue renting that house out.”
[Discussion ensued about other possible uses for the house and land.]
Mr. Surtees: “It’s residentially zoned property. If an architect wanted to live there and apply for a home occupation use, or anybody who wanted to live there could apply for a home occupation use in the house and they would be able to do that. If the township runs the store and you can use the structure, of course we could do that, so there are options on what to do. I mean, there is opportunity for a portion of the Public Works department to be located out there, if capacity becomes a problem for our facility on Southfield Road.
“So there’s a lot of things that the town could do, but concerning the financial situation we find ourselves in, the administration would have the opportunity to focus on additional revenue. And again with the agreement as written right now, it’s one year and the town can renew it, so there might be an opportunity.”
After further discussion about rental details, the meeting moved on with no scheduled followup. Council reorganized in July with two new members, the house was forgotten, and in the fall of 2009 the administration decided that it should be demolished.
In summary, the house was in good, immediately rentable condition when vacated. Though Surtees proposed renting the house to a member of the general public or using it as space for Public Works, such uses would not have been allowed by Green Acres regulations. However, it could have been immediately rented “as is” to a caretaker/tenant or a township employee, or turned into a museum or community or recreation center.
As “unfunded parkland” (i.e. no Green Acres funds were used for its purchase, but rather the town’s own open space tax receipts), uses for the land itself are restricted. Green Acres rules cover all open space in a town as long as one or more parcels were purchased with their financial assistance, which is the case here. The Grover farm does not have to remain as farmland, but it must remain open to the public. For example, it could be used for athletic fields upon the expiration of the present lease in December, 2016.
The farm’s neighbors should be on the alert for any such proposals despite current nonbinding assurances to the contrary. The incentive to remove the house and outbuildings could well have originated with such future uses in mind.
John A. Church
West Windsor
