S. Brunswick to purchase 90 acres
County, town to partner on cost of Stanton property
BY MELISSA CIFELLI
Staff Writer

South Brunswick is one step closer to purchasing the largest piece of open space property in township history.

The Township Council passed an ordinance Tuesday to complete negotiations to acquire a 90-acre tract in Kendall Park owned by Robert Stanton, of New York.

The final price tag for the property is $9 million. The township will pay $2 million and the remaining $7 million will be paid for from the Middlesex County Open Space Trust Fund.

This is $1 million less than the township had anticipated on paying for the property, according to Township Attorney Don Sears.

The township had previously adopted a bond ordinance that set aside $3 million for the Stanton purchase.

Included in the purchase agreement is a conservation restriction contingency by the county, which will prohibit the township from selling or developing the land.

According to Mayor Frank Gambatese, the 90 acres along New Road will remain passive open space.

Nearly 14 to 20 acres of wetlands are included in the property.

The township and owner Stanton had been in negotiations for several years for the purchase of the property.

Stanton filed suit against the council in 2003 and 2004, when the council voted twice to rezone 17 of his 101 acres of property from R-3 to R-1. In both suits, the courts mandated the council rezone the property back to R-3. In March, the property was rezoned to R-3.

“This has been a long process,” Gambatese said.

According to Gambatese, the township had repeatedly tried to come to an agreement with Stanton. The township, Gambatese said, was not able to reach an agreement and was forced to involve the county in the negotiations.

The acquisition of the land, however, was critical because it sits in one of the most densely populated areas of the town, Gambatese said.

While the price tag for the township is less than was anticipated, resident Lew Schwartz said the amount being paid by both the county and township is too high.

Schwartz said the $7 million the county is paying is both “astronomical” and “obscene.”

“We’re all taxpayers,” Schwartz said. “We all live in Middlesex County.”

The money for the purchase, according to Schwartz, will not be coming from outside sources.

The county is expected to sign the purchasing agreement on June 9. The township is expected to close on the property on or around June 15.