Gov. Phil Murphy on Thursday announced that the 175-year-old Henry Family Farm will remain under family ownership after a months-long battle over the land’s future ended in a settlement that makes farmers and affordable housing advocates happy.
The agreement — brokered with the help of the Murphy administration, Cranbury Township officials, Fair Share Housing, and federal partners — ensures that the historic South River Road property will be preserved while the township fulfills its affordable housing obligations elsewhere. The resolution averts the use of eminent domain, which Murphy said he had “opposed from the very beginning.”
“For 175 years, the Henry Family Farm has stood as a proud symbol of New Jersey’s agricultural tradition,” Murphy stated. “I am proud that — with the help of our Administration — the Henry family, Cranbury Township, and Fair Share Housing have reached an agreement that will ensure the farm remains under the family’s ownership.”
The Henry family’s ties to the Cranbury property date back to the mid-19th century, when Charles Henry first began farming the land. Today, brothers Andy and Christopher Henry run the operation, producing corn, soybeans, and seasonal produce on one of the last active farms in rapidly developing Middlesex County.
That longevity made the township’s original plan to condemn the property for an affordable housing site extraordinarily controversial. Local preservationists and agricultural advocates rallied behind the Henrys, arguing that Cranbury’s long-standing support for open space and farmland preservation was being undermined.
The two brothers had said they’d turned down offers from warehouse developers eyeing their property, set between the New Jersey Turnpike and Route 130, for decades.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins got involved after Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli asked her to intervene earlier this year. Scott Turner, the U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, also played a role; both federal departments suggested that New Jersey could lose federal funds if it allowed a takeover of family farms.
Ciattarelli visited the Henry farm earlier this month to announce his own plan to stop overdevelopment and protect farms and other open spaces. The Democratic nominee, Mikie Sherrill, did not get involved in this issue. Two of the five members of the all-Democratic township committee are up for election this year.
The compromise came as the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (HMFA) prepared to revise a rule that governs where municipalities can locate affordable housing developments. Expected to be finalized by year’s end, the new rule will give towns increased flexibility over where a project would be sited, especially in areas where preserving farmland or sensitive environmental lands is a priority.
“This agreement hinges on that change,” said Murphy. “It will permit responsible development that makes housing more accessible and affordable, while ensuring we protect the land that defines our state’s character.”
