Articles Open space and environment
The Mindel Tract: How Hillsborough's Largest Farm Purchase Is Being Preserved
Hillsborough bought the roughly 440-acre Mindel tract for $14 million in January 2022. In 2026 the Township Committee voted to sell the land's development rights to the State Agriculture Development Committee at $30,600 an acre, and the state gave final approval on April 30 for 438.81 acres. The land will be farmland forever, not a public park. The closing has not been recorded.
What it is
The Mindel tract is a block of farmland at Hamilton Road and Amwell Road. Ordinance 2026-03 lists four parcels:
| Parcel | Acres |
|---|---|
| Block 198, Lot 2 | about 424.275 |
| Block 198.01, Lot 1 | about 4.626 |
| Block 198.02, Lot 1.01 | about 4.581 |
| Block 199.02, Lot 1 | about 6.845 |
| Total | about 440.327 |
The township owns the land. In 2026 it agreed to sell a farmland preservation easement on it to the State Agriculture Development Committee (SADC). An easement of this kind buys the right to develop the land. The owner keeps the land, but from then on it can only be farmed. The restriction runs with the deed, so any later owner is bound by it too.
The township’s March 2026 announcement calls it the “Largest Preserved Farmland in Township History.”
How it got here
The purchase. According to Ordinance 2026-03, “the Township purchased the Property on January 6, 2022 for $14,000,000.” The township’s March 2026 announcement gives two dates: in one place it says the township “purchased the tract in 2021 after being approached by the Mindel family,” and in another that it “originally purchased the property for $14 million in 2022.” This page uses the ordinance’s date. The township says that before it bought the land, the site “was subject to proposals for a natural gas power generation facility, high-density housing, and warehouse complexes.”
The state application. On April 9, 2024 the Township Committee authorized the Planning Director to apply to the SADC, according to a later resolution. On October 14, 2025 the Committee unanimously approved a “120-Day Option Agreement” with the SADC as part of its consent agenda.
The ordinance. The Committee introduced Ordinance 2026-03 unanimously on March 10, 2026. It opened online comment on Engage Hillsborough and adopted the ordinance on March 24, “approved upon the call of the roll.” The minutes record no dissent. The ordinance sets the price:
| Part of the price | Per acre |
|---|---|
| SADC formula price | $27,200 |
| Limit impervious cover to 10% | +$1,700 |
| Limit any new house to 2,500 square feet | +$1,700 |
| Total | $30,600 |
The final payment depends on the surveyed acreage and on title. The township said it expects “approximately $13.1 million.”
The state’s approval. On April 30, 2026 the SADC gave final approval in Resolution FY2026R4(16) (SADC ID #18-0038-DE) for 438.81 acres. The vote was unanimous, with one member recused.
What preservation does and does not mean
- It stays farmland. Once the easement closes, the land cannot be developed for housing, warehouses or a power plant. Building is limited by the impervious-cover and house-size caps the township accepted.
- It is not a park. At the March 24 hearing the township attorney stressed that the land “is preserved farmland and not open space.” The Township Planner said the SADC might work with the county on a possible trail. No trail plan has been published.
- The township keeps it for now. The township says it will hold the land “for the time being” and “may consider selling the property as a ‘preserved farm’,” which would return it to private ownership as a working farm.
The acreage figures
Different records give different sizes, and they measure different things:
| Figure | Source |
|---|---|
| 440.327 acres | Ordinance 2026-03, the deeded total of the four parcels |
| 438.81 acres | SADC final approval, April 30, 2026 |
| ”approximately 430 acres” | Township announcement, March 16, 2026 |
| ”About 420 acres will be preserved” | Township Planner at the March 24 hearing |
The ordinance pays by “final surveyed acreage,” and areas carved out of an easement are not paid for. The final easement acreage, and so the final price, will be known only at closing.
Related: the 2023 warehouse-site purchases
The Mindel tract was not the township’s only land purchase aimed at blocking warehouses. In October 2023 the Committee introduced Ordinance 2023-15 to buy two properties for $9.5 million: 1170 Millstone River Road (17.42 acres, $5.3 million) and 303 Amwell Road (11.29 acres, $4.2 million). The township said both had pending warehouse applications. Patch and TAPinto reported that the Committee approved the purchase on November 28, 2023.
In December 2025 the Planning Board’s attorney still described 303 Amwell Road as a property the township “is in the process of attempting to acquire.” On January 22, 2026 the warehouse application there was withdrawn, and the Township Planner told the Board the township attorney had informed them the property had been acquired, “deed in hand.” The warehouse application at 1170 Millstone River Road was also withdrawn; the Committee released its review escrow on March 10, 2026 (R-113-2026). No record of that purchase closing has been found. Those warehouse cases are covered under warehouses.
What is not known
- Whether the easement sale has closed, on what date, for how many acres and for how much money. No closing, deed of easement or resolution accepting the funds has been found.
- Whether the farm leases the Committee ratified for 2026–2030 in February 2026 include Mindel land. The minutes do not say.
- Whether the township plans to sell the land as a preserved farm, and when.
- Whether any trail or public access is planned.
- Whether the 2023 purchase of 1170 Millstone River Road closed.
What residents can do
- Ask at a Township Committee meeting. Public comment is open at every meeting. The remaining 2026 dates are a special meeting on November 10 at 6:30 pm, and regular meetings on November 24 and December 15 at 7:30 pm, in the courtroom at the Peter J. Biondi Municipal Building, 379 South Branch Road. People who cannot attend can submit a comment to be read into the record through the link on each agenda.
- Read the records. Agendas, packets and minutes are on the township’s CivicClerk portal. The ordinance text is in the March 24, 2026 packet.
- Request the closing documents. Through the Township Clerk (OPRA): the SADC deed of easement, the closing statement and the final survey.
- Offer your own land. Owners interested in preserving their farms can contact the township’s Open Space Advisory Commission.