The Burlington County Commissioners voted to approve an agreement with the Van Wagoner family to preserve 239 acres of the family’s farm through the county Farmland Preservation Program. Pictured is the Van Wagoner farm from the adjacent Arney’s Mount Park.
The Van Wagoner Farm in Springfield – one of Burlington County’s most scenic – will be preserved through the county’s open-space and farmland preservation programs, rather than the original plan for a housing development.
County commissioners announced the deal after voting unanimously on resolutions authorizing a final contract agreement with the Van Wagoner family. Once closed on, the deal would add nearly 270 acres to the more than 67,000 acres of farmland already saved across the county.
Located off Arney’s Mount-Birmingham Road within the heart of the county’s farm belt in rural Springfield, the 285-acre Van Wagoner Farm is adjacent to Arney’s Mount- the highest elevation in the county – and the 200-acre Arney’s Mount Park.
The late John Van Wagoner, a fourth-generation farmer, purchased the farm in 1962 and originally operated as a dairy farm before transitioning to grain and corn. It is now used for pumpkins, hay and grain, and is one of the 10 largest farms on the county’s preservation target list.
Elsie Nicolette, John Van Wagoner’s daughter, said her late father continued to work the land and care for the property in his 90s, adding that he would have been pleased to see his family’s property be preserved.
“We know that, like us, he would have been very grateful to see the tradition of farming continued through the preservation of the land,” she noted.
While Van Wagoner Farm was targeted by a developer for a large housing community, the project stalled after Springfield won a legal battle surrounding the developer’s attempt to force approval. During its legal fight, the township argued that permitting high-density housing on the property would have gone against the county’s ongoing efforts to preserve large contiguous areas of farmland, which Springfield has also supported.
The town also argued the location was too far from public transportation and other basic infrastructure needed to support high-density housing.
Under the county’s agreement with the Van Wagoners, the county will preserve 239 of 285 acres on the family farm through the County Farmland Preservation Program, which allows a landowner to retain ownership of a property but requires it be permanently deed-restricted to remain in agriculture use.
The county will also purchase another 30 acres of the property outright as an open-space acquisition. Those 30 acres will become part of Arney’s Mount Park. The county is eligible to be reimbursed 80% of the expense of the farmland easement from New Jersey’s Farmland Preservation Program.
The agreement with the family also reflects the new state preservation formula that is used to calculate the value of the development rights for the portion of the property entering preservation. The updated formula has been described as a “game changer” for preservation efforts since it appraises the value of a farm beyond market value by assigning additional value based on the agriculture and natural resource characteristics of the property.
With the addition of the Van Wagoner property, more than 6,100 acres of farmland will be preserved in Springfield through the state and county, the most of any Burlington town.
