New Jersey farm to be seized by state for affordable housing

“My family sacrificed on this land for 175 years. All the other farms disappeared. We did not. We will not.”

The Henry farm, located in the middle of industrial zoning in Cranbury, New Jersey, will be seized by the township to build affordable housing. (Photo: Google Earth)

A 175 year-old farm in Cranbury, New Jersey is being seized by the state to build affordable housing.

Chris Henry begged the Cranbury Township Committee not to exercise eminent domain on his generational family farm in a meeting last week.

“We love the town and have spent decades of our lives here, as have our parents and our ancestors,” he told the crowd.

Chris and his brother Andy Henry own the farm. Their great-grandfather purchased the land in 1850. Both of their parents were veterans of World War II. Their mother’s name is inscribed on the town’s war memorial.

Despite their pleas and outcry from the community and across social media, officials in the Middlesex County township are advancing plans to take the 21 acres of farmland to build affordable housing units.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins expressed support for the Henry family on her X account today. She said she spoke with Andy Henry by phone.

“Whether the Maudes, the Henrys or others whom we will soon announce, the Biden-style government takeover of our family farms is over,” Rollins wrote on her X account, referencing the highly-publicized South Dakota case in which Charles and Heather Maude were charged with theft of government property over a fence. “While this particular case is a city eminent domain issue, we are exploring every legal option to help.”

State mandated to build 146,000 affordable housing units over the next decade

Cranbury has until June 30 to submit an affordable housing plan to the state, as part of a New Jersey mandate requiring over 146,000 new affordable units to be added or renovated by 2035. This is due to a number of New Jersey Supreme Court rulings dubbed the Mount Laurel Doctrine that require towns to provide their fair share of affordable housing. Cranbury must build 265 units.

In May, the Cranbury Township Committee voted unanimously to seize the Henry family’s farm. Mayor Lisa Knierim says the committee reviewed over 50 sites for more than a year before deciding on the farm. She says this route is best for the township because it avoids expensive legal action from developers.

“A builder’s remedy would destroy the infrastructure, cripple our emergency services, and overload our schools,” she told NewJersey.com, referencing a specific type of lawsuit by developers. “Our decision was fact based, and whether people like it or not, that’s what this job is.”

Knierim admits the situation is not ideal.

“No one is in favor of eminent domain. No one wants to see a farm disappear,” the mayor said.

But former mayor Jay Taylor is standing with the Henry family. He says their land is in a warehouse zone and is not ideal for housing. The historic farm is surrounded by industrial development. A huge warehouse is slated to be built across the street.

“There are other places to build, other options to consider, but there is only one Henry family farm, and once it’s gone, it’s gone forever,” he said. “What message do we send our children if we tear down the field their ancestors fought to protect?”

The Henry family farm was purchased in 1850. (Photo from the Henry family)

Chris’s brother Andy says the family has received many lucrative offers to sell over the years. The brothers, who grew up on the farm, now live in New Mexico. A local tenant runs cattle and sheep on the property. The Henry brothers say they have spent more than $200,000 to maintain the land since they inherited it in 2012. They visit the farm often and have repeatedly turned down high-dollar offers to sell the farm. They are determined to protect their family’s legacy of raising local food in what was once an agricultural region.

“My family sacrificed on this land for 175 years,” Andy Henry told AgWeb. “All the other farms disappeared. We did not. We will not.”

The Henry brothers are committed to keeping their 21 acres of farmland intact, a promise they made to their family. (Photo: Google Earth)

Lone holdout

The Henry family farm, located along the New Jersey Turnpike between New York City and Philadelphia, has remained a lone patch of green in a rapidly urbanized region. The New Jersey Turnpike was built in 1952. In 1972, planners added a Turnpike exit adjacent to the farm. The community changed. Land prices exploded. Warehouses built up, farm after farm sold, farm families moved out. But the Henrys refused all offers and managed to keep their family’s 21-acre farm intact.

“The town loves driving by and seeing something besides warehouses,” Andy told AgWeb. “Keeping this legacy intact and passing it to the next generation has been, and is always, our plan.”

The brothers received the letter of notice in April of this year. The township says they will pay a “fair price” for the land, but the brothers don’t want to sell.

“It was incredibly stunning,” Andy said. “The letter said if I didn’t agree on a price—they’d take my land by eminent domain.”

Ironically, the farm is vulnerable to eminent domain seizure because the Henry family has protected it from development for decades.

New Jersey is rapidly losing family farms

Timothy Duggan, an attorney representing the Henry family who specializes in eminent domain, says this is not a proper or reasonable use of eminent domain.

“Andy Henry could sell out for tens of millions of dollars to developers and walk away,” Duggan told AgWeb. “It’s mind-boggling in this day and age to think you have someone genuinely standing on principle, but that’s who Andy Henry is, and that’s how much he wants his 175-year-old farm protected. He’s preserving history at no cost to the public.”

He says the community does not support the decision, both because the Henry farm is beloved, and because it does not make sense to build homes in an industrial complex.

“We live in a heavily populated state with family farms lost at a fast and steady rate, and now someone wants to remove another, even though this special one still produces livestock and hay, with 21 acres and a historic home,” he said. “Literally, there is an architect from upstate New York scheduled to visit the house and look at the porch because he wants to be accurate in one of his rebuilds. That speaks to the amazing historic condition of Andy’s place, and to think the city government chooses to erase it defies common sense.”

The Henry family says they will fight the decision in court. A GoFundMe established to help the family with their legal bills has so far raised over $53,000.