New Jersey - CUMBERLAND COUNTY
Countywide program - Formed in 1984 - (Hopewell Township information illustrates
local planning patterns.) - researched by Andy Andrews
OVERVIEW - More rural and less subject to development pressures than most other New Jersey counties, Cumberland is in the extreme southern part of New Jersey bordering Delaware Bay. Much of the county is in wetlands and the eastern portion is largely in the state Pinelands preservation area. Cumberland is the state's leading farm county in market value, close to $100 million annually. It ranks fourth in New Jersey in agricultural acres under easement. Because of the county's relative remoteness and limited development pressures, easement prices per acre have been low compared to other New Jersey areas. Hopewell Township has the second largest number of agricultural easement acres in the county.
EASEMENT ACTIVITY - 7,280 county-held agricultural
easement acres on 54 parcels. The principal crops on protected farms are vegetables,
sweet corn, melons and nursery products.
Goals: 10,000 acres in 10 years.
Other Easement Programs: 1,846 agricultural easement acres on eight parcels
directly preserved by the State Agricultural Development Committee. 165 agricultural
acres are deed restricted in the Pinelands Agricultural Protection Area through
the Pinelands Development Credit program.
Hopewell Township: County easement activity totals 2,445 acres in 19 parcels,
exceeded only by Upper Deerfield Township's 3,321 aces in 21 parcels.
Total Agricultural Easements in County: Approximately 9,000 acres.
FUNDING
Acquisition Spending to Date: $13 million on county-held agricultural
easements.
Revenues: 78 percent from state; 22 percent from voter-approved county
property tax (1 cent per $100 per assessed value). No municipality has yet contributed
funds to easement purchases and the county does not require municipal cost shares
because of limited local tax bases. Easement purchases have averaged about $1,650
per acre-relatively low by New Jersey standards.
GOVERNANCE - The Cumberland County Agriculture Development Board (CADB) oversees the easement program. Its seven members are appointed for indefinite terms by the Board of Freeholders. The program staff is housed in the Cumberland Department of Planning and Development.
STAFF AND OPERATING BUDGET - One full-time staff person and a part-time administrative assistant. Budget information is not available.
ORIGINS - Cumberland's CADB was organized in the early 1980s, primarily to work on economic development issues involving the retention of agriculture in a relatively rural and poor county. Not until the late 1980s did the program hire a program administrator to work on permanent preservation projects. The first agricultural easement was purchased in 1992.
ACQUISITION PROCESS AND STRATEGY - The CADB reviews
and submits applications to the state for final ranking and funding decisions.
The County Freeholders approve the final list. Mirroring the state process,
two separate rankings are conducted locally, one with multiple factors (see
below) and the second that ranks applications according to "relative best
buy." The CADB exercises a small amount of discretion in applying quantitative
scores.
Rating of Parcels: Quantitative: The county uses its own version of the
state's ranking system, with the highest weights given to agricultural soils,
contiguity, parcel size, planning compatibility and farm management. Smaller
scores are assigned to development proximity and urgency and to several "special
considerations" such as historic conditions and unique farm operation which
are determined subjectively.
Other Criteria: Minimum eligibility is enrollment in an Agricultural
Development Area.
CONNECTIONS TO LOCAL PLANNING AND LAND USE POLICIES
- In New Jersey, planning and zoning are conducted at the township (municipal)
level. Municipalities in Cumberland County vary greatly in their interest in
farmland protection, with several expressly favoring a pro-growth policy and
opposed to having agricultural easements in their jurisdictions.
Hopewell Township: Although it does not contribute financially to the county
program, Hopewell works with landowners in strategic locations to sell easements.
Zoning: No agricultural zoning. Residential densities in agricultural
areas in Cumberland County townships range from one unit to six acres (1:6)
to 1:2-Hopewell's density is 1:1.
DEMOGRAPHICS
2000 Population: 146,400
1990-2000 Population Change: +8,385 residents; +6 percent
AGRICULTURAL LAND
66,288 acres: 76 percent cropland
Conversion to Urban Use: Comparative conversion data not available.
OTHER AGRICULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS
1997 Market Value: $94 million Number of Farms: 573
Principal Commodities: Vegetables, sweet corn and melons, nursery and
greenhouse, fruits and berries
MAP NARRATIVE - EASEMENT GEOGRAPHY
(PROGRAM MAP)
Easements are concentrated in the western portion of the county where
most of the prime farmland remains. Hopewell and Upper Deerfield townships combined
contain 79 percent of Cumberland's agricultural easement acres. The southern
portion of the county is marshy and tidal, much of it publicly owned in the
form of wildlife refuges, while the east is largely developed and suburbanized.