HOWELL – The township will hold a public hearing on whether to buy the Pierce farm property on Maxim Road.
Located at 147 Maxim Road, the parcel is mostly vacant, overgrown farmland with two older buildings dating from the early 1900s on the property. It is also listed on several commercial real estate sites with a $1.299 million asking price.
The hearing is 6 p.m. February 7 in town hall, to discuss applying for a grant program that would assist in purchasing the farm for preservation.
The local government assistance application would be through the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Green Acres Program to acquire the Pierce Farm property, for Block 52, Lots 7, 11, and 11.01 in Howell.
At 123 acres, the zoning is ARE6, or agricultural natural resource protection zone requiring lots of at least six acres.
About 2,500 feet of the property fronts Maxim Road, according to the property map, and a portion was designated as wetlands. A curb cut connects to an access road, mostly overgrown, according to November 2016 the real estate listing, which was marketed by Brian Church Group.
