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BURLINGTON COUNTY FARM
PERMANENTLY PRESERVED
 
For Immediate Release: March 13, 1998 Contact:

Hope Gruzlovic
(609)292-8896
hope.gruzlovic@ag.state.nj.us

     
After half an hour of spirited bidding, the Jim Durr family of North Hanover Township, Burlington County, became the proud owners of the former Smylie-Gottlieb farm located in the Township. Durr knew the property well, having rented a small portion of the property for his flower farm.

The 77.56-acre property was auctioned back into private ownership by the State Agriculture Development Committee (SADC) with deed restrictions that will permanently preserve it as farmland. The sale price was $305,000. The preservation of this farm complements the farmland preservation efforts of the Burlington County Agriculture Development Board and North Hanover Township. To date, through the Farmland Preservation Program (FPP), Burlington County has preserved 45 farms totaling 7,455 acres of which 11 farms totaling 2,237 acres are in North Hanover Township and adjacent Chesterfield Township. The picturesque property includes about 40 acres of tillable ground with the remainder in woodland. The farm, which was originally slated for residential development, was purchased by the SADC from the Smylie-Gottlieb Partnership on January 20, 1998, with funds provided by the Green Acres, Clean Water, Farmland and Historic Preservation Bond Act of 1992. This is the eleventh farm which the SADC has preserved in this manner.

Statewide, the FPP has preserved 283 farms totaling 44,107. Another 72 farms totaling 8,973 acres are pending permanent protection in the months ahead.