Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman CAROL A. MURPHY
District 7 (Burlington)
Assemblywoman MARGIE DONLON, M.D.
District 11 (Monmouth)
SYNOPSIS
Makes FY 2025 supplemental appropriation of $8,000,000 to Monmouth County Open Space and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund to assist in the purchase of the Stein property in Upper Freehold Township, New Jersey.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
A Supplement to the annual appropriations act for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, P.L.2024, c.22.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. In addition to the amounts appropriated under P.L.2024, c.22, the annual appropriations act for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, there is appropriated from the Property Tax Relief Fund the following amount for the purpose specified:
10 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
40 Community Development and Environmental Management
49 Agricultural Resources, Planning, and Regulation
STATE AID
08-3380 Farmland Preservation ......................................... $8,000,000
Total State Aid Appropriation, Agricultural Resources, Planning, and Regulation $8,000,000
State Aid:
08 County of Monmouth - Open Space and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund (PTRF)................................................. ($8,000,000)
The amount hereinabove appropriated to the County of Monmouth - Open Space and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund shall be utilized for the permanent preservation of the Stein farmland property in Upper Freehold Township.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would appropriate $8,000,000 from the Property Tax Relief Fund to the Monmouth County Open Space and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund to meet the $25,000,000 needed to purchase the Stein property in Upper Freehold Township, New Jersey. Preservation of the property would prevent construction of an obstructive warehouse on the property.
The Stein property is a historic Revolutionary War site, providing a campground for 10,000 British soldiers as they retreated from Philadelphia before the Battle of Monmouth. The proposed development would split the farm into two properties, each to contain a 50 foot warehouse with loading docks. The Upper Freehold Planning Board members estimated that, during a 24 hour period on an average weekday, a total of 790 vehicles (including trucks) might enter and leave the site. Residents most affected would be those living along the propertys neighboring border with Allentown Borough, where the construction would allow for 100 feet of space between warehouse properties and adjacent Allentown Borough residents.
Local property owners express concern that the warehouse plans will threaten local open space, generate air pollution, disrupt the natural ecosystem, and contaminate water sources with industrial runoff. Stormwater flooding already presents an issue at sewage plants and in private basements in Allentown Borough. The proposed construction would necessitate a water mitigation and sewer system to support the warehouses infrastructure. The New Jersey Society of the Sons of the American Revolution has also urged Upper Freehold Township to preserve the land.