VOORHEES — The township committee introduced an ordinance Monday that would let Voorhees buy and preserve more than five acres of wooded property next to the historic Stafford Farm.
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If the committee approves the deal at its May 12 meeting, it would end a nearly two-year tussle between the property owners, who wanted to develop the site, and community residents, who made it abundantly clear they preferred the land adjoining the 140-acre farm remain untouched.

The township would buy the 5.5-acre property along Evesham Road for $2.75 million under a deal brokered by The Trust for Public Land, a nonprofit land conservation organization that also helped preserve the Stafford Farm in 2004.

"We worked very hard to put the funding sources together for this," said Mayor Michael Mignogna.

The state's Green Acres program would give $979,000 toward the purchase, Camden County would chip in $916,000 from its open space fund and the township would pay the remaining $855,000, officials said. Most of the township's contribution would come from its open space fund, which contains around $800,000, said Voorhees municipal administrator Larry Spellman.

Voorhees also plans to apply to Green Acres for an additional $400,000. Gov. Jon S. Corzine is expected to authorize the state to begin accepting such applications shortly, said township Committeeman Harry Platt.

Platt, who was mayor when the Stafford Farm was preserved for $20.6 million, said he's confident the township will get the money. Green Acres has never denied a Voorhees request for open space funding, he noted.

Two appraisals put the property's price tag at $2.75 million and $3.3 million, Mignogna noted.

The township approached property owner Medi-Build Inc. about buying the land earlier this year. The Cherry Hill firm's plan to build a drug store and shopping center on the property was rejected by the township zoning board in early 2007, but Medi-Build was preparing to pursue a smaller proposal.

Hundreds of residents, however, had attended the board meetings to argue that any commercial development would worsen traffic, blight the farm's scenic vista and possibly harm the farm's operations. Today, half the farm is used to train standardbred horses while the other half is a passive recreation area.

Sensing the community opposition, Medi-Build agreed to negotiate with the township and The Trust for Public Land.

"We were always willing to work with the township," said Peter Lazaropoulos, a partner in Medi-Build. "We're happy it turned out to be a win-win situation."

Under the agreement, Lazaropoulos said, Medi-Build will donate more than $200,000 to The Trust for Public Land, which is based in San Francisco.

"I never thought we would get to this point. I thought the property would get developed," said Amy Kazahaya, who owns the horse farm with her husband, Ken, and vigorously fought the Medi-Build proposal.

"I was keeping my fingers crossed and holding my breath because it was something of a long shot," said Voorhees resident Marylee Margolis. "I'm glad the owners were willing to sell and I'm very appreciative that the township went to bat for us on this. They saw how much it meant to so many people."