Purchase ensures the lot will never be developed

LAWRENCE -- Neighbors and customers of Terhune Orchards won't need to worry about sprawling apartment buildings or bustling strip malls moving in next to the 30-year-old farm property on Cold Soil Road.

County and state officials agreed to purchase the building rights to an adjacent lot of land, the 26-acre Mount U-Pick farm, and preserve it as agricultural land forever.

Mercer County will be picking up 40 percent of the tab to buy the rights from Gary Mount and township council member Pam Mount, who jointly own Terhune Orchards.

"It's just so the land can never be developed, and it goes as far as to prevent the owner from selling it," said Julie Willmot, county spokesperson.

County freeholders recently agreed to pay no more than $28,500 an acre for the pick-your-own produce farm through the state's Farmland Preservation Program. With 26 acres involved, that means the county will pay approximately $741,000.

The Mount family said the program has helped thousands of farmers to preserve their land for decades and would love to see the trend continue.

"We would like to have as many acres (preserved) as farms in New Jersey as possible," Pam Mount said.

Since the land can't be sold to commercial developers, it does not skyrocket in value, making it affordable for use by farmers.

In the past, the Mount family bought a previously preserved property because of its lowered price tag. The Mount U-Pick farm is the last property the family owns to receive preservation status.

The Mounts bought the land in 1980 and at times wrestled with the idea of selling it to a developer.

"We hadn't applied previously to this because we kind of thought 'Well, what's the future going to bring?'" Gary Mount said.

In February, the Mounts applied for preservation after their children expressed interest in carrying on the family business.