Open space and environment

Farmland preservation and open space

The Planning Board adopted a new Farmland Preservation Plan on October 12, 2026, the first since 2010: 2,281.63 acres are preserved on 34 farms and 852.99 more are targeted. The township is also pursuing about 395 acres of state land and smaller open-space gifts and purchases.

Checked against the primary record on . Every figure on this page is sourced at the foot of the article.

Plan adopted; land deals pending Last moved

What happens next

The Somerset County Park Commission takes written comments on the Skillman Park maintenance building until October 27, 2026. The township's next annual farmland application, which updates the targeted farm list, is due to the state by December 15.

Montgomery preserves farmland through the state program: the state, county and township jointly buy a permanent deed restriction, and the farmer keeps the land. The new Comprehensive Municipal Farmland Preservation Plan, adopted by the Planning Board on October 12, 2026 as part of the Master Plan, keeps the township eligible for that state money. It counts 2,281.63 preserved acres on 34 farms and 852.99 acres of “targeted” farms the township would like to preserve next. At $25,000 an acre it projects about $21.3 million in all, with the township’s share about $4.3 million.

The plan sets goals, not obligations: every preservation needs a willing owner and a public vote by the Township Committee. The largest targeted farm, 125.71 acres at Block 13001, Lot 15, is part of the former Kenvue holding; the plan still lists it under Johnson & Johnson.

The open-space tax, four cents per $100 of assessed value, also pays for open space. In 2026 the township accepted an 8.87-acre gift off Dayflower Drive, won a $125,000 county grant toward buying the 11.42-acre Forbes/Rader property on Route 601, and continued work toward acquiring about 395 acres of state Department of Corrections land in Skillman, which needs state approval.

Somerset County proposes a 1.2-acre maintenance building in Skillman Park, with written comments due October 27, 2026. Farmland and open-space goals are also being restated in the 2026 Master Plan reexamination.

Farmland and open space, explained

Timeline

Each dated event on this issue, oldest first, linked to the full sourced entry.

  1. Milestone State law restricts farmed state land in Skillman to farm, conservation or recreation useP.L.1988, c.135 restricted any part of three state-owned tracts in Montgomery that was farmed on October 5, 1988 to agricultural, horticultural, conservation or recreation use "in perpetuity." Two of those tracts, Block 25001 Lot 27 and Block 27001 Lot 7, are the state lands the township is pursuing today.
  2. Pending Township starts due diligence on buying 11.42 acres on Route 601 for open spaceThe Township Committee authorized a land purchase agreement and due diligence for the "Forbes/Rader" property, about 11.42 acres at 690 Route 601 (Block 13001, Lot 21), "for agriculture, open space, recreation, conservation, public pathway and other municipal purposes." It is a separate parcel from the former Kenvue campus.
  3. Pending Township presents plan to acquire about 395 acres of state Corrections land in SkillmanThe Open Space and Stewardship Director briefed the Township Committee on acquiring two New Jersey Department of Corrections parcels, 188 and 207 acres, describing it as the largest acquisition of property by the township. Green Acres would be the funding partner. Residents supported preservation but questioned proposed non-open-space uses.
  4. Resolved Green Acres open-space grant to the township rises to $9.525 millionThe Township Committee corrected and increased its state Green Acres grant for "Open Space Acquisition 5." It rescinded a 2024 resolution that carried the wrong 2024 award ($900,000 instead of $700,000), then authorized an amendment raising the grant from $7,825,000 to $9,525,000, with a matching township share.
  5. Pending Somerset County awards $125,000 toward the Forbes/Rader open-space purchaseThe Township Committee authorized a grant agreement with Somerset County, which awarded $125,000 from its Open Space Preservation Grant Program toward the township's purchase of the Forbes/Rader property, Block 13001 Lot 21, at 690 Route 601. At the same meeting the Committee added a Green Acres deed restriction to another open-space lot.
  6. Resolved Township accepts an 8.87-acre open-space gift off Dayflower DriveThe Township Committee adopted Ordinance #26-1780, accepting as a gift 8.868 acres (Block 6001, Lot 33.03) off the proposed Dayflower Drive from Harlingen Associates LLC, developer of Country Classics at Montgomery, "for open space, conservation, recreation and municipal purposes." No member of the public spoke at the hearing.
  7. Pending School district asks for a share of the state land the township is pursuingThe school superintendent and the Board of Education vice president told the Township Committee that the district is formally interested in the parcel next to the high school athletic stadium. It is part of the Department of Corrections land the township is considering acquiring.
  8. Resolved Planning Board holds its hearing on the Farmland Preservation Plan and holds off on the voteThe Open Space and Stewardship Director and the township's planning consultant presented the 254-page Farmland Preservation Plan. One resident commented. Board members said they had not had time to read it, and the Chair carried the vote to October 12.
  9. Resolved Planning Board adopts a new Farmland Preservation Plan, the first since 2010The Planning Board adopted Montgomery's Comprehensive Municipal Farmland Preservation Plan (August 2026) as an element of the Master Plan. The plan counts 2,281.63 preserved acres on 34 farms and 852.99 acres of "targeted" farmland, and it uses $25,000 an acre to project the cost of preserving more. It replaces the 2010 plan.
  10. Pending County holds its hearing on a maintenance building in Skillman Park; written comments due October 27The Somerset County Park Commission held a public hearing on converting 1.2 acres of Skillman Park from parkland to a park maintenance facility, a 2,730-square-foot building with parking and a bioretention basin. Written comments are accepted until October 27, 2026. The Commission may act on or after January 12, 2027.

Explainers

  • The State Lands in Skillman, Explained

    Montgomery is pursuing about 395 acres of New Jersey Department of Corrections land in Skillman: 188 acres around the high school and 207 acres on Burnt Hill Road. A 1988 state law already limits the parts that were farmed then to farm, conservation or recreation use. The township has held closed sessions and started the Green Acres paperwork, and the school district and the SAVE animal shelter have asked for pieces. No appraisal, price, vote or state approval is public.

  • Farmland and Open Space in Montgomery: The New Preservation Plan, Explained

    On October 12, 2026 the Planning Board adopted Montgomery's first new Farmland Preservation Plan since 2010. It counts 2,281.63 preserved acres on 34 farms and names 19 more farms, 852.99 acres, as the next targets. This explains how preservation works and what the plan says and leaves unsettled. It also covers the rest of the 2026 open-space record: a gift, a county grant, 395 acres of state land, and a county building proposed for Skillman Park.

Documents

The township's own records on this issue. Each links to the official copy.

Meetings

  • Planning Board — October 12, 2026

    A half-hour meeting. The Board adopted the township's new Comprehensive Municipal Farmland Preservation Plan without questions, then heard the Plan4Health consultant's status report on the 2026 Master Plan reexamination: a draft is due at the beginning of November, and everything must be adopted by March 2027 under the grant. The Kenvue site stayed on the future-agenda list with no date.

  • Planning Board — September 28, 2026

    The Planning Board's first look at the Committee's referral of the Kenvue site. The Board's attorney laid out the steps: a study report, made public, then a noticed hearing, then a recommendation. No planner was named and no dates were set. Three residents spoke. The consultant hired that night, eConsult Solutions, was for 23 Orchard Road's redevelopment plan, not Grandview.

  • Township Committee — September 17, 2026

    The Township Committee directed the Planning Board to study whether Block 14001, Lot 2 at 199 Grandview Road meets the statutory criteria for a non-condemnation redevelopment area, and authorised an escrow agreement under which E. Kahn Development pays for the study. Both passed 4-0 with Committeeman Martin absent, over roughly 40 minutes of public comment that ran heavily against them. The township attorney also said on the record that the widely reported "$300 million" damages figure in the data-center lawsuit is false.

  • Township Committee — March 5, 2026

    The Township Committee adopted every implementing piece of the amended Fourth Round housing framework — the rewritten Chapter 15 ordinance, the amended spending plan, the administrative agent and the affirmative marketing plan — all 5-0. The township attorney reported that Program Judge Miller had found no consensus among the objectors and had recommended a fairness hearing before any order issues, and that the Planning Board hearing on the plan itself, snowed out in February, was reset to March 9.

  • Township Committee — December 4, 2025

    The meeting opened with the township attorney's report on the first mediation session in the Round Four housing case: the township had formally notified the Program and all interested parties that it would amend its plan, and — with an agreement in principle to extend controls on at least 96 Pike Run units — no other development, including the Kenvue site, would remain in the plan. The Committee then held the public hearing on and adopted Ordinance #25-1766, the $1,100,000 bond ordinance that pays for those extensions.

Sources for this overview

  1. Notice of Decision: Farmland Preservation Plan adopted, October 12, 2026
  2. Comprehensive Municipal Farmland Preservation Plan, August 2026 (PDF)
  3. Township Committee minutes, July 16, 2026
  4. Township Committee minutes, August 20, 2026 (Ordinance #26-1780)
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