By Wendy Greenberg
When farm owner Andy Henry learned last spring that his farm at 1234 South River Road in Cranbury was being considered as a site for affordable housing he was surprised, since the 175-year-old farm, which had been in his family for generations, sits out of the way and is surrounded by warehouses.
Since then, area residents have vocally supported Henry in his efforts to keep the farm, have set up a successful Go Fund Me campaign, and gotten the attention of state news media, as well as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins. The township has gone ahead with a plan to take the farm through the use of eminent domain. The township has hired a company to appraise the farm, which is scheduled for Wednesday, September 3, said Henry.
On Friday, August 30, the attorney for Henry Realty Co. (HRC) filed a challenge to the Township’s Housing Element and Fair Share Plan (HEFSP). Attorney Timothy Duggan of Stark & Stark noted that challenges were also filed by Cranbury Housing Associates, a nonprofit that has helped Cranbury meet its affordable housing obligations; and by The Fair Share Housing Center in Mount Laurel, a nonprofit advocacy organization that advocates for “housing justice in New Jersey and beyond,” according to its website.
The challenge filed in the Superior Court of Middlesex County on behalf of HRC is asking the Affordable Housing Program to find that the Township’s plan is not in compliance with the Fair Housing Act, and the Henry farm should be removed from the plan.
It concludes that “the Henry Farm should not be part of the HEFSP. Plain and simple. It is truly unjust for the Henry family to have to litigate to save a 175-year-old farm when the farm is a terrible location for a housing development and there are other options.” The Henry farm asks to be removed from the plan, “so the Township can meet its constitutional obligation to provide affordable housing using other suitable sites.”
Up until 2024, the suit argues, the Township “green-lighted development” consistent with its 2010 Master Plan, which had goals of preserving “the rural character of the Township while allowing industrial development in the area east of Route 130.”
Cranbury Housing Authority recently identified three sites it says are viable: a two-family home that would be converted to affordable, another site that would hold 20 units, and third site that would hold 64 units, it is noted in the HRC challenge.
This is the second challenge the HRC is making. The first one was filed last month to challenge the municipal government’s right to take the farm by eminent domain. That lawsuit is pending, said Duggan.
The next step, he said, is that a state-appointed panel of seven mediators (retired judges) has until the end of the year to try to mediate a resolution of the challenge or the challenge goes back to the court.
Henry and his brother, who live out of town and pay a caretaker to run the farm — which has cows and goats among other animals — grew up on the farm built by their great-grandfather, and had no intention of selling or giving up the farm. Today the working farm raises beef cattle, with 39 Galloway cattle, 15 sheep, and assorted goats and chickens. In a previous interview, Henry said the farm is still a “little oasis surrounded by warehouses, or by land about to become warehouses.”
Under the Mount Laurel Doctrine, which was decided in a state Supreme Court case 50 years ago, all New Jersey government entities must provide their “fair share” of affordable housing. Based on complex criteria, Cranbury’s share is 265 over the next 10 years. By the year 2035, New Jersey towns must add or renovate over 146,000 affordable housing units, based on state calculations.
The criteria for where to locate the housing include available sewer and water, accessibility to transit, a 250-foot buffer zone from a warehouse, and more.
The last Cranbury Township mayor’s update to address the issue was June 11, and notes that decisions were made “with an extraordinary amount of diligence” exhausting all options.