Articles Open space and environment
Open Space and Farmland in Franklin: What the Council Has Bought, Preserved and Built
Franklin's Open Space Trust Fund, raised by a dedicated tax, paid for five land purchases approved between October 2025 and July 2026, a share of a state farmland easement, and part of the new Catalpa Park. This page lists each one with its price, vote and source, and what the record does not yet show.
How Franklin pays for open space
The township’s Open Space Trust Fund is raised by a separate line on the property tax bill. The municipal open-space rate was $0.050 per $100 of assessed value in both 2025 and 2026, according to the County Board of Taxation; the county adds its own open-space rate ($0.030 in 2026). The township levy for the fund was $8,348,749.97 in 2025 and $8,683,214.10 in 2026.
Officials have given the fund’s balance twice: “$14 million” as of December 2024, in the Township Manager’s reply to a resident at the October 14, 2025 hearing, and “over $14 million” in the March 24, 2026 Catalpa Park presentation, as the minutes record them.
The fund is used three ways:
- Buying land outright, by ordinance. Each purchase ordinance authorizes acquisition “by purchase or condemnation,” with a separate capital ordinance appropriating the money.
- Preserving farms with the State Agriculture Development Committee (SADC), which buys a farm’s development rights and shares the cost. Franklin renews its place in the SADC’s Municipal Planning Incentive Grant program each year; Res. #25-490 (November 25, 2025) did so for the FY2027 application, which it says “offers up to $500,000 in cost-share from the SADC for eligible applications.”
- Building and equipping parks, such as Catalpa Park and the items in Ord. 4506-26 ($293,500 for mowers, an Inman Park tennis windscreen, pickleball nets, pool benches and a Senior Center pavilion, adopted May 12, 2026, 6-0).
Ord. 4517-26 states that about 30 parcels totalling over 1,000 acres have also been preserved through cluster subdivisions, where developers set aside land as a condition of approval.
The purchases, one by one
| Property | What the ordinance says | Amount | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Point Avenue properties, 439 and 483 West Point Avenue (Block 348, Lots 1.02 and 16–27) | Acquire “for open space preservation purposes” (Ord. 4478-25); capital Ord. 4479-25 | $742,600 | Introduced September 30, 2025; adopted October 14, 2025, 8-0 |
| Brenner property, 3995 Route 27 (Block 5.02, Lot 58) | Acquire for open space (Ord. 4480-25); capital Ord. 4481-25 | $3,067,000 | Same dates, 8-0 |
| Conservation easement, 179 Cedar Grove Lane (Block 507.38, Lot 18.01) | Accept an easement from Jeffrey J. Carter (Ord. 4482-25) | none stated | Same dates, 8-0 |
| Collins property, 4301 Route 27, Princeton address (Block 5.02, Lot 70Q) | Buy 26.09 of 31.29 acres; 5.20 acres are subdivided out and kept by the seller (Ord. 4511-26); capital Ord. 4512-26 | $426,721.40: land $371,721.40 ($14,247.66 an acre) plus about $55,000 due diligence | Introduced June 9, 2026, 9-0; adopted June 23, 2026, 9-0 |
| 287 Cedar Grove Lane (Block 508.02, Lot 11) | Acquire for open space (Ord. 4513-26); capital Ord. 4514-26 | $5,460,000 | Introduced June 23, 2026, 9-0; adopted July 14, 2026, 8-0 |
| Kerani property, 1 Riddering Lane, Princeton address (Block 5.02, Lots 61.01–61.09) | Conservation Partnership Agreement with the Land Conservancy of New Jersey (Res. #26-287) | $1,380,000 | June 23, 2026, consent agenda, 9-0 |
The roll calls.
- October 14, 2025 (each of Ords. 4478-25 to 4481-25): ayes Anbarasan, Francois, Kharazi, Onyejiaka, Potosnak, Uddin, Vassanella, Wright; absent Kramer.
- June 23, 2026 (Ords. 4511-26 and 4512-26): ayes Anbarasan, Francois, Kharazi, Kramer, Onyejiaka, Singh, Uddin, Vassanella, Wright.
- July 14, 2026 (Ord. 4514-26, mover Vassanella, seconder Kharazi): ayes Anbarasan, Francois, Kharazi, Kramer, Onyejiaka, Uddin, Vassanella, Wright; absent Singh.
What was said at the hearings. No one spoke on Ords. 4478-25, 4481-25 or 4514-26. At the October 14, 2025 hearings Alex Strauss of Hazlitt Way supported the West Point Avenue ordinance and asked for the tree count, the acreage and the fund balance; the Township Manager, Mr. Vornlocker, did not have the first two and gave the balance. On the Brenner property, Mr. Vornlocker said “the building is being set aside and the Township is only purchasing the open space,” as the minutes record it.
The Kerani agreement. Res. #26-287 describes “a 38.96 acre tract of unimproved land.” The Land Conservancy is negotiating to buy it “for $2,700,000.00 and ultimately deeding the Property to the Township for Open Space with the Township providing 50% of all costs and expenses of the transaction.” The resolution commits $1,380,000 from the Open Space Trust Fund.
Other properties discussed in closed session. The Council held executive sessions on potential open-space acquisitions at Skillmans Lane–Route 27/Little Rocky Hill (February 24, 2026, Res. #26-113), the Kerani property (May 12, 2026, Res. #26-219), 287 Cedar Grove Lane (May 26, 2026, Res. #26-238) and 583 South Middlebush Road (Block 36.01, Lot 6.03) with a donation contract (June 23, 2026, Res. #26-288). No public action on 583 South Middlebush Road has followed.
From the county. On May 6, 2026 the Planning Board approved a County of Somerset minor subdivision at 1452 Canal Road (PLN-26-00003). The agenda describes it as a subdivision under which “One lot will be added to Franklin Township’s Open Space inventory.” The minutes record the County’s Director of Planning testifying that the County was under contract to buy about 23.9 acres of the 32.9-acre property and that the preserved lot “would add approximately 23.9 acres to the County’s open space inventory.” The resolution was memorialized June 17, 2026.
Farmland preservation
Horses & Hay Farm, 98 Coppermine Road (Block 11.01, Lot 46). The SADC certified the development easement’s value at $24,200 an acre on March 26, 2026. The owners agreed to a 10% impervious-cover limit and accepted the township’s offer of $28,824 an acre, the statewide formula value. The easement covers about 16.83 acres, with a 1.51-acre exception area for a future house. Because no county money is used, the SADC holds the easement.
| Share (based on 16.831 acres) | Amount | Per acre |
|---|---|---|
| SADC | $388,109.40 | $23,059.20 |
| Franklin Township | $97,027.35 | $5,764.80 |
| Total | $485,136.74 | $28,824.00 |
The SADC gave final approval on May 28, 2026, conditioned on the township’s own resolution. The Council adopted that resolution, Res. #26-269, on its June 9, 2026 consent agenda, 9-0.
Farm leases. The township leases land it owns to farmers. It extended the Marden Preserve–Scott Farm, Kulley Farm and Memorial Forest–Toto leases in August 2025 (Res. #25-359, #25-360, #25-361) and the Terhune Farm lease on February 24, 2026 (Res. #26-111).
Preserved farmland taken for the pipeline. The township owns the development rights to the Higgins Property (Block 5.02, Lot 26.01) under a 2017 deed of easement. In 2026 a federal court let Transco condemn a permanent access road and temporary workspace across it for the NESE compressor station. On September 8, 2026 the Council settled for $500,000 for those easements plus $100,000 through Transco’s foundation for a township-designated community benefit program (Res. #26-390, 9-0). The full account is under NESE pipeline.
Catalpa Park
The design. At the March 24, 2026 presentation the minutes describe “a 29-acre park divided by a stream.” The northern section has two cricket fields, a pavilion with bathrooms, a 67-car lot, a community garden and a wet pond for stormwater. The southern section has an 86-car lot, playgrounds (one inclusive and ADA-accessible, “funded by a $360,000 grant”), two basketball courts, two tennis courts, eight pickleball courts, a larger pavilion and other play areas, with a perimeter path. A resident from Catalpa Farm raised fencing, emergency access during construction and flooding; the minutes record that the plan includes a four-foot post-and-rail fence with a driveway gate and that the design “accounts for flood considerations.”
The bids. A first bid “last July,” about $9.3 million, was rejected for cost. After value engineering the hard cost was put at about $8.6 million. The Council authorized new bids that night (Res. #26-124, 8-0, mover Francois, seconder Uddin; Wright absent). Six bids were opened July 31, 2026. On September 8 the Council awarded the contract to Vulcan Construction Group, Inc. for $8,580,581 (Res. #26-372, consent agenda, 9-0), using the deletion of the bocce area with shade structures and of a brick-finish concrete column.
The funding, as presented in March and as adopted in September.
| Date | Funding as stated | Source |
|---|---|---|
| March 24, 2026 | ”Just under $5.4 million” in open-space cash, “just over $2.4 million” of unfunded bond capital from a 2016 bond ordinance, and a recommendation “to bond for” a shortfall of about $1.2 million, “bringing the total bond sale to approximately $3.6 million.” The minutes record: “All funding comes from open space money and will not increase taxes.” | Council minutes |
| September 8 and 22, 2026 | Ord. 4519-26 appropriates $1,380,000 from the Open Space Trust Fund “for the construction of, various improvements to, and the acquisition of equipment for, Catalpa Park” | Ord. 4519-26 |
No new bond ordinance for the park was found through October 27, 2026. Ord. 4519-26 was introduced September 8, 6-0 (Singh, Vassanella and Wright absent for that vote), and adopted September 22, 6-0, with no public comment: mover Anbarasan, seconder Uddin; ayes Anbarasan, Kharazi, Kramer, Uddin, Onyejiaka, Vassanella; absent Francois, Singh, Wright.
Plans behind the program
The township’s Comprehensive Farmland Preservation Plan was adopted in August 2019. The 2026 master plan reexamination report says recommendations tied to the 2013 Open Space and Recreation Plan, such as greenbelts around the historic villages and acquisition of land near the D&R Canal, “remain valid.” An Open Space Plan Steering Committee was on the Planning Board’s February 4, 2026 agenda.
What is not known
- Whether the West Point Avenue, Brenner, Collins, 287 Cedar Grove Lane and Kerani purchases have closed, and the acreage of West Point Avenue, Brenner and 287 Cedar Grove Lane.
- Whether condemnation was used for any of them; the ordinances authorize “purchase or condemnation.”
- Whether the SADC easement on the Horses & Hay Farm has closed.
- How Catalpa Park’s full cost, including construction management, is funded in the end, and when construction starts.
- What came of the closed-session discussion of 583 South Middlebush Road.
What residents can do
- Speak at the public hearing. Every purchase and capital ordinance is heard by the Township Council before adoption. The Council meets November 10, November 24 and December 8, 2026, 7:00 p.m., Municipal Complex, 475 DeMott Lane, and Public Discussion is open at every regular meeting.
- Read the record. Ordinances, agendas and minutes are on the township’s Granicus archive. SADC approvals are public state records.
- Contact the township to ask about the status of a purchase or the Open Space Trust Fund balance.