in our spotlight on business report tonight a fight over a 175 year old piece of Jersey farmland the property is at the center of an affordable housing battle officials in Cranberry Township say they want to buy the land to build hundreds of affordable housing units sending a letter to the owner that if he refuses they could take the farm by eminent domain the owners and locals are crying foul blaming the town for selling much of its green space that could have been used for the project to warehouses ted Goldberg reports it It's It's hard to explain it it's just uh Andy Henry was flabbergasted when he heard Cranberry could seize his farm using eminent domain to create affordable housing the farm has been in his family since before the Civil War i was totally surprised i I never I mean this property has been of interest to developers for uh many decades now um it it didn't occur to me that the town would be interested in it it's a thing where if I have to move I I I'm going to feel bad leaving everything behind tom O'Donnell takes care of the cattle and sheep here since Henry now lives in New Mexico oddonnell has worked this 21 acre farm for nearly a decade i got into raising my own animals because I don't want to eat the meat in the stores because of the chemicals the farm is surrounded by warehouses or land that's about to become warehouses oddonnell hopes Cranberry finds other places to put 265 affordable housing units and fulfill its constitutionallymandated obligation i hope they use their uh use their minds and their hearts that that that this is a good thing in this in this community a lot of people like to look at these animals sometimes they're parking along the side of the road they come up in a driveway they just want to sit here and look at the animals we like to see that you know it's it's it's a good feeling we don't know uh what other properties they may have looked at we don't know um what decision-making process they followed mayor Lisa Canerum who declined our request for comment outlined the state affordable housing requirements at a township committee meeting earlier this month sewer water close to mass transportation and a 200 ft warehouse distribution buffer zone the last criteria came only three months ago after we had already reviewed a s significant number of properties taking into consideration this new criteria I hope residents can understand how the funnel of properties began getting smaller and smaller the original farmhouse here burned down to the ground in 1880 the family story goes that neighbors pitched in to help and within a couple of years this new farmhouse took its place fast forward about 150 years and once again Henry's neighbors are getting involved to advocate for this farm mayor Coner yes unanimous thank you i hope it happens to your houses cranberry's leaders unanimously passed an ordinance giving them the option to buy the farm or seize it through eminent domain as well as this other property about 2 miles away they said the state's requirements don't leave many other options to put housing this brings us no joy right we're we're in this position and we are not thrilled to be in this position you sat here and said "Please feel bad for us we worked 12 months on this."

When a man has a farm for 150 years and you want to take it you're hearing residents say no and we're funding the legal fight to sue the town a GoFundMe for that legal fight just surpassed $15,000 and locals are selling these stuffed cows to raise money and awareness former Cranberry Mayor Jay Taylor has joined the fight praising the Henry family and denouncing the possible seizure of their farm we've always uh come out there and talked to them about preserving the land and they've always been the good soldier they've showed us offers and said "We don't want to preserve the land give it to the farms that are going to sell."

Taylor also says the farm is a bad spot for a housing complex it's about 2 miles from the nearest bus park and ride and there's not much to walk to you have to walk across a couple highways you have to cross the entrance to the New Jersey Turnpike to get to that park and ride the families that need this need the basic services they need transportation they need access to community they need to feel integrated henry has hired a lawyer but he hopes the township can find another site so he doesn't have to spend time in the courtroom fighting for his farmland in Cranberry i'm Ted Goldberg NJ Spotlight News support for the business report is provided by Riverview Jazz presenting the 12th annual Jersey City Jazz Festival May 27th to the 31st event details including performance schedules and location are online at jerseycityjazzfestestival.com