10,000 Sussex Acres Preserved
From the Star Ledger:
Sussex preserves 10,000th acre of farmland
"Sussex County has reached a milestone of preserving 10,000 acres of farmland over the past 17 years."
"Officials will mark the achievement Friday with a celebration at a picturesque Stillwater farm that dates to 1741 and was preserved last week."
"Farm owners Gus and Elsie Roof and their sons, George and Leon, raise beef cattle, chickens and crops on 85 acres next to the old Stillwater Grist Mill along the Paulinskill River."
""We didn't want to see houses back there on our field behind our house," 84-year-old Elsie Roof said. "We're still running the farm, and the boys will keep it up.""
"Farmland preservation in Sussex started slowly in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when only two farms totaling 121 acres were preserved. In the mid-1990s, however, the program started growing, and has picked up steam in recent years."
Sussex preserves 10,000th acre of farmland
"Sussex County has reached a milestone of preserving 10,000 acres of farmland over the past 17 years."
"Officials will mark the achievement Friday with a celebration at a picturesque Stillwater farm that dates to 1741 and was preserved last week."
"Farm owners Gus and Elsie Roof and their sons, George and Leon, raise beef cattle, chickens and crops on 85 acres next to the old Stillwater Grist Mill along the Paulinskill River."
""We didn't want to see houses back there on our field behind our house," 84-year-old Elsie Roof said. "We're still running the farm, and the boys will keep it up.""
"Farmland preservation in Sussex started slowly in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when only two farms totaling 121 acres were preserved. In the mid-1990s, however, the program started growing, and has picked up steam in recent years."
61 Comments:
The Real Estate Political Complex is very much alive and kicking. I think you are wise to be skeptical.
From the Star Ledger this morning:
The great land rush continues in Newark
Even as community groups, Newark's mayor-elect and some city council members call for a moratorium on the sale of city-owned land, the council today will consider proposals from at least 10 developers.
The activity is coming amid concerns that city-owned land is being sold at a breakneck pace and bargain-basement prices weeks before a new administration and up to seven new council members take office.
Politically connected developers and campaign contributors to Mayor Sharpe James are among those to be considered for purchasing land today, including the Rev. Levin West. Also before the council today is a firm representing basketball star Shaquille O'Neal, and a group named Community Urban Renewal Enterprise -- which was just hit with $48,000 in fines for violating state regulations.
If you figure 640 acres per sq. mile and Sussex County having 521 sq. miles. It really is not much.
The real problem with these preservations is often farmers are struggling and they only get a couple to a few thousand dollars/ acre. Chump change compared to all out developing the land.
Another problem comes when the farmer fails and the land goes up for auction. Developers swoop in and build mansions in the land where the farmhouse stood (possibly historic) and get a huge price because the land is preserved surrounding the property and is farm assessed forever.
I know it is enforced. But they would just grow hay or cord wood like Christine Todd Whitman does . No big deal. I am very familiar with the law and the process and that county in particular.
I know Donna too, I worked with her for 3 years.
Just take a drive past some of the mega-estates tucked deep in Far Hills. Many of these have stacks of firewood out front with a tin can for depositing payment.
How much profit do you actually need to show? $500 a year?
Throw in a few horses for good measure and you are set.
Chainsaw: $500
Overalls: $40
Gas: $3
Tax benefits of calling your mega estate farmland?
Priceless
grim
GSML Inventory continues its relentless rise EVERYDAY!
Does not Include FSBO.
May 23 ---- 29,626
may 22 ---- 29,496
May 19 ---- 29,398
May 18 ----- 29,260
May 3 ------ 28,110
April 12 ----26,582
March 6 ---- 24,111
OVERPRICED HOUSING PILING UP EVERYDAY.
BOYCOTT RIPOFF PRICES..
BOOOOYAAAAAAA
Bob
30,000 here we come.
BOOOOOOOOYAAAAAAA
Bob
Tell greedy sellers and starving realtors to SHOVE IT!
NO MAAS to MTG Slavery.
You can rent at less than 1/2 the cost to buy.
BOYCOTT HOUSES
Booooooyaaaa
Bob
30,000 inventory celebration coming next week.
Boooooooyaaaaaaa
Bob
Any predictions on 40,000?
And the bubbleheads sez there is a shortage of hosues.
HA!
A GLUT of Bloated overpriced houses.
Booooooycott Houses
NO BIDS!!! NO BIDS!!!
Booooooyaaaaaaaa
Bob
GAS AT $3.25/PER GALLONS!!
DO NOT BUY AT THESE BLOATED PRICES!!
BOYCOTT GASOLINE!!!
BOYCOTT CARS!!!
Any prediction on $4.00/PER GALLON??
Boooooyaaaaaaaa
Bob
GAS MORE EXPENSIVE THEN ANY TIME IN HISTORY!!
GAS WILL BURST!!
DON'T BE A BAGHOLDER!!
BOYCOTT GAS!!
BOYCOTT CARS!! I DON'T HAVE ONE!!
Booooooyaaaaaaaa
Bob
Gas isn't going to get much cheaper bubblehead....sorry on those escalating ARM mtg payments and higher property taxes and energy/utility bills.
Didn't factor that into your bubble price?
Well to bad.
Leverage hurts when interest rates go up.
To my favorite starving realtors and greedy sellers
Boycott RIPOFF HOUSES!
Booooyaaaaaa
Bob
What the bubblheads going to say when GSML inventory piles up over 30,000 and then 40,000 by yearend.
Booooooyaaaaaaa
Bob
I think bob is funny. It is almost like tourettes syndrome on a blog.
Gluts and gluts and Gluts of housing inventory by yearend.
All denail will be toast. Then lots of sleep medicine flying off the shelf.
Noticed one house been driving by getting mighty sloppy outside over past several months. Budgets must be getting squeezed.
Do not put yourself in a bind.
Boycott Houses
RIPOFF
Booooyaaaaaaa
Bob
actually he reminds me of rainman
I'm glad I don't work with this guy. I'm sure he's a f*kin' weirdo. probably doesn't shower either.
Slow it down a little bit Bob..
grim
It's pretty clear Bob was a nerd in school who never got any attention (especially from the ladies.) That explains his craving for it.
hey grim, is boycott bob your alter-ego?
jk ;)
Gas prices? Can you rent gasoline?
Also, gas prices are not at "historic highs"
Link 1:
http://tinyurl.com/kderc
Link 2:
http://tinyurl.com/mppo8
More on gas prices:
"A headline in Wednesday's edition of USA Today read: "Oil Prices Hit Highest Since Sept. 1990." The story glumly reported that "oil traded for more than $39 a barrel last week ... the highest closing price since 1990 and the 6th highest price ever."
...
But prices, properly measured, are nowhere near their historical peak. In fact, the long-term trend in oil, gas, and electricity prices is downward, not upward.
...
What the reporter at USA Today and so many other fear mongers forgot to do was adjust for inflation. In the world of economics, this is an unpardonable sin. After all, if you don't adjust for inflation, just about everything is more expensive today than 30 years ago."
If gas prices were as high today as they were in the late 1970s, we would now be paying about $6 a gallon for gas.
http://www.cato.org/dailys/05-13-04.html
"Toll Brothers Inc. lowered its earnings forecast for the fiscal year, a further sign of the slowing U.S. housing market. While the economy remains healthy, the new-home market is beset by a glut of units created by investor and builder speculation and buyer cancellations, CEO Robert Toll said."
http://thehousingbubbleblog.com/?p=731
You can't rent gas but you can buy a bike bubbleheads!!
BOYCOTT RIPOFF GAS PRICES!!
Booooyaaaaaaa
Bob
"The smartness is very simple, reduce OIL consumption, by making Houses where people work."
Alternatively, the state can promote business where people live -- Bridgewater, Parsippany, etc.
Unrealtor,
actually the late 70's early eighties was the last major peak. The one before that was around 1921. The calculated risk link below has links to the data and a nifty chart showing historical prices.
CATO gotthis one wrong. Which does not surprise me.
http://calculatedrisk.blogspot.com/2006/05/2006-record-real-gasoline-prices.html
Bob:
What is the correct spelling of "booooyaaaaaaaa"?
Is it 4 "O" & 7 "A"?
"actually the late 70's early eighties was the last major peak."
Which is what all three sources I've cited state.
Cato isn't wrong, they're in agreement with your source, and the other two sources I cited, which also have charts.
Unrealtor,
The inflation adjusted prices (2005 $'s) show the peaks to be around $3 a gallon while the projected for this year is around $2.50. Am I missing something or is the Cato piece just misinformation? Check the tables at the link below.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/steo/pub/fsheets/petroleumprices.xls
Metro, not sure.
Link 1 has late 1970s as peak:
http://tinyurl.com/kderc
Link 2 has late 1970s as peak:
http://tinyurl.com/mppo8
Cato has late 1970s as peak:
"If gas prices were as high today as they were in the late 1970s, we would now be paying about $6 a gallon for gas."
Your link has late 1970s as peak:
http://calculatedrisk.blogspot.com/2006/05/2006-record-real-gasoline-prices.html
It seems fair to conclude "historical highs" for gas prices occurred in the late 1970s.
"Bedminster already has a huge development. It's called The Hills."
Miles and miles of blue vinyl siding...
Unrealtor,
Those are inflation adjusted prices. Check the excel numbers from the fed. The $6/ gal price is wacked. Then again CPI is wacked.
shailesh -
how do you know so much about nj? what do you do exactly?
SG,
With the highlands act NJ is closer to buildout. I would estimate for the 2 counties NW of the Highlands between 40,000 and 60,000 units. Every farm preserved subtracts from the buildable land inventory.
You are correct that rezoning in urban areas could allow for more housing. But that would mean alot of towns would have to become pro-growth and I don't see that in NJ, even if school funding mechanisms are changed. The antigrowth spirit is actually what is killing the economy here.
Also the problem with developing urban cores more intensely is everyone wants the yard and elbow room for kids and themselves. In other words, quality of life.
All that gets lost in urban areas
Miles and miles of blue vinyl siding...
1:23 PM
What is it with NJ and the love of vinyl and aluminum siding. I will not even look at a house that has been wrapped in Reynolds Wrap. Is this a Jersey thing? You only see this kind of low-end housing wrap in poorer neighbors in Westchester County. To me, the wrapper is hiding something--like rotten wood!
SG,
NJ is the densist state. You are comparing apples to oranges when you compare a city like Tokyo to a state. It would be like comparing NJ to India. NJ is denser.
NJ is the densist state. You are comparing apples to oranges when you compare a city like Tokyo to a state. It would be like comparing NJ to India. NJ is denser.
Oh, I thought they were one in the same--NJ and India
Wasn't it Elaine in Seinfeld who said "Let's get rid of the rainforests in one fell swoop. At least it is eliminated as a subject of conversation". ;-)
CNS
Policies are already antigrowth. I am just about packing it in.
unfortunately none of them can speak fluent english :p
Rainman...hah....Tourettes...ahaha.
I just began reading Grim's blog a couple of weeks ago, but Bob is absolutely one of the reasons I've been back. Safe humor on a depressing subject - a margarita on a hot day - Barney Fife to Andy.
Injecting humor here would be a wise move for a blogger...maybe Bob is Grim!!!! Great marketing.
unfortunately none of them can speak fluent english :p
If they spoke fluent english, they would make more, and contribute more to the bottom line. $45K per year could not feed an elephant, let alone a house full of people.
I just want to point out that the Woodbridge/Edison NJ area is nationally renowned for it's sprawl and density. When I lived in Iselin briefly, I actually had a friend from Ohio, who was studying Real Estate at Wharton, come to visit me because he wanted to see how "not to do it".
This occurred in 1997!!!!! They've had 9 more years to ---- up that area..........
Sure, lets have enlish.
Enlish is something they teach at Montclair High. Your Montclair High students are learning Enlish while roaming the streets of Montclair mid-day looking for a crack house.
im leaving for nigeria or newark take your pick .. its the same.
I once experienced that point confusion--must have been during the black out several years ago.
Enlish is something they teach at Montclair High. Your Montclair High students are learning Enlish while roaming the streets of Montclair mid-day looking for a crack house.
They must be learning Enlish in Maplewood/South Orange. I hear there is an intense Enlish after the "incident."
"What is it with NJ and the love of vinyl and aluminum siding."
It's not a Jersey thing, it's also in NY, PA, etc.
Down South, they use lots of brick -- often on all four sides of the house.
I sometimes see a nice older house where they will have vinyl siding installed over cedar wood siding, and then to cover arched windows and such they'll make 100 cuts in a piece of vinyl trimwork so it fits around the curved shape. What a travesty.
In most 'high end' towns, no one installs vinyl siding. But it's a shame because there are a lot of nice houses in 'non high end' towns, that would look magnificent if properly maintained.
Slate roofs are another area where people ruin a nice house to get something 'new.' Ever see someone rip off a slate roof, and replace with fiberglass shingles? Such a shame.
Shady roofers tell homeowners that the slate is "old" and needs to be removed, when the truth is, most roofers simply don't know how to work with slate. Slate roofs will last well over 100 years, and look amazing. Call in a slater to maintain and repair a slate roof, 99.99999% of the time they should not need replacement.
I'm having a secret affair with slate roofing and cedar clapboard.
grim
What happens when you are built out? You in-fill and build up.
Built-out doesn't mean you stop builing, it means you change what (and the way) you build.
grim
Skeptic,
The main problem carrying capacity of resources namely the water supply. From what I have read, you are correct and the buildout that is coming may stress water supplies. In the 2001-2002 drought, many areas of the state where well water was the main household water supply, simply went dry.
I'm having a secret affair with slate roofing and cedar clapboard.
I met someone in Montclair who had replaced their slate roof at cost of $60K--a very expensive affair! Are you refering to cedar shinges, or clapboard made of cedar?
I actually vomit at the sight of vinyl and aluminum siding.
I actually vomit at the sight of vinyl and aluminum siding.
I think they call it sidingitis.
An infection of your inner asthetic senses when seeing processed aluminum or plastic wrapped around a structure.
Possible cures: Torching the structure, tearing the wound until the real siding reveals itself, avoidence, and last but not least acceptance--then you can call your self trash.
Clapboard made of cedar, preferrably quarter sawn..
grim
"I met someone in Montclair who had replaced their slate roof at cost of $60K"
I'll bet it only needed a thousand dollars worth of repair, and they were told it was "too old" and needed replacement.
In our disposable society, people can't comprehend that a slate roof lasts 100-200 years, and so they get taken to the cleaners by shady contractors.
Anyone with a slate roof should own this book:
"The Slate Roof Bible"
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0964425815
Not necessarily to perform the repairs, but to understand more about the very valuable roof they have.
If spending $20 on a book can save $60,000, that's a deal of a lifetime.
Rich,
Spring 2006? Sure do!
jb
Been there a few times, love the place.
If you didn't already find it, I snuck in an article on Craftsman Farms in Home Prices Do Fall piece.
The Battle to Preserve a Jersey Utopia
By ANTHONY DEPALMA
Published: March 22, 1987
IN their quest to preserve the remnants of Gustav Stickley's utopian community, the out-of-state developer and the home-grown preservationist are of a mind. They differ only in how to reach their goal, but that is a big difference.
The developer, a red-haired firebrand named Jack C. Heller who travels in a limousine and breaks $100 bills in fast-food restaurants, intends to save the log house that served as home and refuge for Stickley, the designer and architect who is sometimes credited with founding the arts and crafts movement in America.
He wants to make the 6,000-square-foot residence in Parsippany-Troy Hills, N.J., a clubhouse for 52 luxury town houses he plans to build on the adjoining 26 acres of gardens and woodland. He has retained the architect Robert A.M. Stern to replicate the shingle and stone style of Stickley's house in the new residences, which will cost about $400,000.
Anon 1:23,
One reason people choose vinyl or aluminum siding is that it protects the wood underneath and doesn't need to be painted! I grew up in Michigan and siding is very common. It is considered too "low rent" on the east coast, I think, though if you make a trip to Jersey City you can find a lot of it. And you'll also find that chintzy-looking faux-brick siding. That has got to be the ugliest home "adornment" I've ever seen.
I posted this on the highlands act thread but I think too late to be seen. It's germaine to the back-&-forth bet Shailesh and Skeptic.
I've been doing a great deal of bike riding in western NJ (and what a beautiful state this is from the seat of a bicycle!) But what makes it beautiful I think, in no small part, are those tiny little signs I see that say "Preserved Open Space"---which I think has to do with the Highlands Act--right?
I don't really understand how laws like the highlands act or historic farm preservation is going to strip the value away from someone's land. To be sure, you won't be able to sell it to an investor for development purposes. But what about someone who values peace & quiet, clear open space; fresh air and a community free of McMansion-itus?
We can't develop and pave over every inch of the state.
FWIW, the cedar clapboard discussion revived a childhood memory! My father, who built the house I grew up in, installed a front closet that was lined with cedar. I used to love the smell of that cedar wood! I would actually go in and just breathe in (keep in mind I was 6 at the time!).
The cool thing was that the cedar freshened the clothing hung in the closet.
BUT, cedar can trigger allergic reactions so you have to be careful to check this before installing this in a coat closet.
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