{"id":12228,"date":"2025-06-13T08:30:54","date_gmt":"2025-06-13T15:30:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/?p=12228"},"modified":"2025-06-13T08:30:54","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T15:30:54","slug":"city-gov-to-seize-175-year-old-farm-by-eminent-domain-replace-with-affordable-housing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/2025\/06\/13\/city-gov-to-seize-175-year-old-farm-by-eminent-domain-replace-with-affordable-housing\/","title":{"rendered":"City Gov to Seize 175-Year-Old Farm by Eminent Domain, Replace with Affordable Housing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This is a misuse of eminent domain which was meant for public needs in regard to infrastructure, not private investment opportunities. Though, the tribulation period is coming with a high chance the farm will be destroyed, so they should probably take the money and enjoy it while they can. Consequently, someone with considerable means and influence is maneuvering for this property and they’re lucky they don’t use harsher tactics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.agweb.com\/news\/business\/farmland\/city-gov-seize-175-year-old-farm-eminent-domain-replace-affordable-housing<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n
Family fights township attempts to replace historic farm with government project<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

By Chris Bennett<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"lead
In the bull\u2019s-eye of development, Andy Henry\u2019s family farm has survived for 175 years. \u201cAll the other farms disappeared,\u201d he says. \u201cWe did not. We will not.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For three decades, Andy Henry has declined $20-30 million offers for his 21-acre, 175-year-old farm. Ironically, local government is using his perseverance to take the entire property via eminent domain and replace pasture with affordable housing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grass for concrete? Legacy surrendered? No deal, Henry says. Period. Full stop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On South River Road, in Middlesex County, N.J., warehouses and industrial buildings have replaced the once abundant farms of yesteryear\u2014except a lone holdout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy family sacrificed on this land for 175 years,\u201d Henry adds. \u201cAll the other farms disappeared. We did not. We will not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sell, or Else<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1850, Joseph McGill\u2014Andy Henry\u2019s maternal great-grandfather\u2014bought 21 acres of farmland in Cranbury, tucked almost dead-center between New York City and Philadelphia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McGill broke ground and began growing crops immediately, alongside construction of a farmhouse. In 1879, the home burned. McGill rebuilt in 1880. One crisis of many endured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey survived hardship after hardship,\u201d Henry says. \u201cIn 1936, my grandfather died, leaving my grandmother and mother to run the farm. It was struggle after struggle, but they held on to the land, and again survived, leaving something for the next generation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Henry, alongside his brother, Christopher, grew up on the family farm and watched the surrounding landscape dramatically change form. In 1952, the New Jersey Turnpike was laid down a stone\u2019s throw from their property, and in 1972, an adjacent Turnpike exit was constructed, opening the floodgates on development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In rapid succession, domino-style, the surrounding farms were sold. Warehouses and distributorships birthed metal and concrete; land values skyrocketed; and the industrial world ringed the Henry operation. Through it all, the family\u2019s 21 acres remained intact as a working farm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"1880s
The Henry family\u2019s rebuilt home in the 1880s. \u201cThe generations before us had to fight to save this farm,\u201d Henry says. \u201cThey sacrificed. So will I and my brother.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 2012, Henry (in tandem with Christopher) fully inherited the property. The siblings invested $200,000 in upkeep on the farm\u2014all while buyout offers ballooned to $20-30 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDidn\u2019t matter how much money we were offered,\u201d Henry says. \u201cWe saved the farm no matter what. We turned down all the offers to preserve the legacy for our family, city, and even state.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Henry currently resides in New Mexico, but makes frequent returns to his family home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur farm in now leased for raising cattle and sheep. The town loves driving by and seeing something besides warehouses. Keeping this legacy intact and passing it to the next generation has been, and is always, our plan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cranbury Township Committee<\/a> also has a plan: Cover Henry\u2019s farm with housing units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On April 24, 2025, Henry\u2019s mailbox clinked with an official letter of notice from the Committee, tagging his farm as an affordable housing site. \u201cIt was incredibly stunning,\u201d he says. \u201cThe letter said if I didn\u2019t agree on a price\u2014they\u2019d take my land by eminent domain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sell, or else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Standing on Principle<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On May 12, the Committee officially approved a plan to take the Henry family farm. Timothy Duggan<\/a>, an eminent domain specialist and attorney representing Henry, says the Committee\u2019s intentions are \u201cmisguided and rushed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGovernment behavior should be the opposite\u2014preserve instead of destroy,\u201d Duggan contends. \u201cThis is not a proper, reasonable use of eminent domain. No way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"ANDY
\u201cI doubt the township sees the irony, but they can only try to take it by eminent domain because we saved it from development offers in the first place,\u201d Henry says.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAndy Henry could sell out for tens of millions of dollars to developers and walk away. It\u2019s mind-boggling in this day and age to think you have someone genuinely standing on principle, but that\u2019s who Andy Henry is, and that\u2019s how much he wants his 175-year-old farm protected. He\u2019s preserving history at no cost to the public.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe 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,\u201d Duggan continues. \u201cLiterally, 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\u2019s place, and to think the city government chooses to erase it defies common sense.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the public\u2019s reaction to the Committee\u2019s eminent domain grab? \u201cI can\u2019t find anyone who supports the township\u2019s action, on two levels,\u201d Duggan notes. \u201cOne, everyone loves the Henry farm and appreciates it so much. Two, there are other places to build, and you don\u2019t put up house complexes beside industrial complexes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Per New Jersey law, Cranbury must build 265 affordable housing units over the next decade. \u201cWe support affordable housing,\u201d Duggan says, \u201cbut not dropped in the middle of a bunch of warehouses. The whole thing lacks common sense.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Cranbury Township Committee has not revealed what type of affordable housing is slated to replace the Henry farm. The Committee did not respond to Farm Journal interview requests.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Echoing Duggan, Henry says public support is overwhelmingly<\/a> positive. \u201cI spoke at a council meeting in opposition to what they were doing, and the whole town has gotten behind me. We have a long history here in Cranbury and love this place and the people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

175-Year Legacy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Legally, what happens next?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Henry will file a complaint to challenge the township in court. Ultimately, if the township proceeds, Henry will challenge eminent domain at every step, according to Duggan. \u201cThere are other places to build,\u201d Duggan emphasizes. \u201cWhy take a 175-year-old farm?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unbowed, Henry insists he will fight to save his legacy. \u201cI never dreamed the township would try to take our farm. I doubt the township sees the irony, but they can only try to take it by eminent domain because we saved it from development offers in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe generations before us had to fight to save this farm,\u201d Henry concludes. \u201cThey sacrificed. So will I and my brother.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is a misuse of eminent domain which was meant for public needs in regard to infrastructure, not private investment opportunities. Though, the tribulation period is coming with a high chance the farm will be destroyed, so they should probably take the money and enjoy it while they can. Consequently, someone with considerable means and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world"],"blocksy_meta":[],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Jason","author_link":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/author\/jturning\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12228"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12230,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12228\/revisions\/12230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}