A 175-year-old family-owned farm in Cranbury, New Jersey, that was threatened with eminent domain seizure by township officials eager to use the land for affordable housing was spared from takeover after Gov. Phil Murphy intervened in the case.
In a statement, the governor declared that his administration brokered a deal involving the property’s owners, the Henry Family, with officials in Cranbury Township and the nonprofit Fair Share Housing. Murphy said the agreement “will ensure the farm remains under the family’s ownership, while local leaders look elsewhere to meet the town’s affordable housing obligations.”
The efforts to seize the Henry Family’s 21-acre beef cattle farm drew national attention in June when US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said her office would become personally involved in the matter. More attention was paid when former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican nominee for governor, campaigned in Cranbury to support the farm’s owners.
Murphy, a Democrat, reached across the political aisle to thank Rollins and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner for their input in crafting the agreement.
“While every town in New Jersey must do its part to resolve our state’s affordable housing crisis, these efforts must be pursued thoughtfully and collaboratively,” Murphy said, adding, “New Jersey will always protect its farmers and farmland. And we will always live up to our reputation as the Garden State.”
We are the Garden State….taking this farm for affordable housing is horrible ! Gov. Murphy should protect this farm. Move on to somewhere else for affordable housing.
We certainly need to do more to protect our cattle farmers. Out west they are being run out of business by government agencies and NGO’s.