Officials await results of Van Dyke farm appraisals
BY CHRIS GAETANO
Staff Writer

FILE PHOTO Negotiations on the 300-year-old Van Dyke farm in South Brunswick are set to resume in the next few weeks after a long assessment period stalled them.

SOUTH BRUNSWICK - Land appraisals on the 300-year-old Van Dyke farm are set to be finished within the next two to three weeks, according to Freeholder Director David Crabiel. The completion of this work will allow local, county and state players to move forward on negotiations for the land's purchase and subsequent preservation.

"The appraisal is not in yet and once it's in, we will be making some judgment on it. ... We've got two appraisals, one by [firm Fleming-White] and one by [firm JGT Management], and those appraisals should be in by the next two or three weeks," Crabiel said.

The Davidsons Mill Road property, which currently grows feed corn for livestock, has been the centerpoint for a bitter conflict between developer Joe Morris and nearby South Brunswick residents. Morris, who owns the 191-acre tract's development rights, first tried to change the land's zoning from rural residential use to industrial in 2005, which would have allowed structures like warehouses to be built on it.

This move was heavily opposed by nearby residents, who said that the land had a great deal of historic value due to the presence of an 18th-century farmhouse, complete with slave quarters, the bodies of whom are said to be buried somewhere on the property. The house, along with the farm around it, was owned by the Van Dykes, a prominent and influential South Brunswick family that had the land deeded to them from the king of England before the United States was even founded. The bodies of this family are also said to be buried somewhere in the farm's soil.

Residents were also opposed to the idea due to concerns of increased truck traffic, which is already an issue in that part of town, as well as the development's close proximity to Pigeon Swamp State Park, which contains state protected water sources.

With this in mind, the township declined to rezone the property in February 2005. This prompted the firm to return in October of that year with a new plan for 76 luxury houses, which was within the allowed uses for that particular property. This proposal was also met with heavy opposition from residents and township officials who were also concerned about the strains a new housing development would have on the local infrastructure. This, combined with the land's perceived historic value, caused the council to work toward preserving the land around November of 2005. With values estimated at tens of millions of dollars, however, the township knew it would need financial help from both the state and county if it was serious about preserving the farm.

Meetings between county, state and local officials and representatives from Morris's firm were fruitful at first, with the company saying that it would be willing to part with the land, provided it is able to get a fair market value for it. Since then, however, the process has stalled at the assessment phase, with both parties waiting on the tract's assessed value before further moves are made. This delay has been disquieting to residents eager to get preservation efforts under way, especially members of the Eastern Village Association (EVA), a community advocacy group that formed in reaction to perceived industrial encroachment.

"The silence is ominous," EVA member Jean Dvorak said.

According to Robert Johnson, executive director of the National Association of Real Estate Appraisers, the longer a tract takes to be appraised, the less likely financial institutions will accept the resultant value.

"Most financial institutions won't accept an appraisal after six months, and some even three months," Johnson said.

A receptionist at Fleming-White, Woodbridge, said that the company does not comment on when appraisal on a piece of property began.

According to Councilman Chris Killmurray, the Van Dyke farm was examined on several levels, with both an engineering survey and an ecological document review to spot nearby wetlands. Once the land is fully appraised, negotiations will be able to move ahead, since everyone will have a dollar amount to work from. However, Killmurray noted that the quest to preserve will still be a difficult one.

"The hardest part is still to come and that's to negotiate with a willing seller," said Killmurray. "We'll get the appraisals and then we'll offer X."