Planning Board delays farmland preservation vote while hearing updates on community health strategies and a contested corporate site — Kenuve/J&J — redevelopment.
By Barbara A. Preston for The Montgomery News | October 1, 2026
SKILLMAN, NJ — The Montgomery Township Planning Board tackled a range of municipal planning initiatives, postponing a vote on an updated farmland preservation plan to allow for further review, while receiving updates on a public health grant project and a proposed redevelopment study of a prominent corporate campus at a meeting on Sept. 28, 2026.
The board heard a detailed presentation regarding the updated Comprehensive Municipal Farmland Preservation Plan, presented by Open Space and Stewardship Director Lauren Wasilauski and consultant Tara Kenyon. The township’s last farmland preservation plan was adopted in 2010.
Key findings indicate that 17.79 percent of the township’s land area remains identified as farmland, with approximately 2,281 acres on 34 farms already preserved. An additional 852.9 acres across the township have been identified as targeted farmland meeting state criteria for soil quality and agricultural productivity,
It would cost about $25,000 an acre today to preserve this additional farmland through state and county grants, according to the presentation.
It was no surprise that 94% of the soils in Montgomery Township, once a traditional, rural farming community, are still conducive to agriculture. This means that despite climate change, and the addition of massive housing developments, retail strip malls, and now vacant corporate office campuses, the soils in the township are still “very good for growing agricultural products,” Kenyon said.
Advertisement
Hay
Equine — The industry continues to grow in the township, more than doubling between 2020 and 2025.
Livestock — A major contributor to agriculture in the township.
157 head of beef cattle
41 goats
More than 5,000 chickens
The equine industry has steadily grown in the last ten years in Somerset County. This is important because the county has consistently been trying to get into the equine market, Kenyon said. Breeding and training horses requires hay farms.
“And there is a call right now for the niche market of organic hay for these high end horses,” Kenyon said. “That is something to definitely think about.”
An amendment to the Right to Farm Act in 2021 provides special protections for equine operations by allowing for labor housing on preserved farms.
“This is specific to equine, not just for livestock, specifically because equine operations do often require that someone be there around the clock to care for the horses, and for security,” Kenyon said.
New Jersey farms are now able to diversify their income by holding events that ultimately market what they are growing or raising on their properties.
Advertisement
Planning Board Member Paul Blodgett expressed concern about how existing preserved farmland is being managed.
“ We are increasing the amount of farmland that we preserve, but the amount of land that’s actually farmed is going down,” Blodgett said.
Blodgett also expressed concern that the diversity of what is farmed in Montgomery is actually going down.
“Most of the fields are hay,” he said. “I'm wondering if there are ways to encourage the economics of agriculture through some of our planning?”
“Also, the average farm in Montgomery is about 25 acres, and the median farm is about 12 acres, which means there are quite a few smaller farms in Montgomery relative to the rest of Somerset County and NJ. Are we focusing too much on the acreage and not enough on having future developments to actually carve out space for small farms? Maybe that would be another way of promoting the agricultural aspects of our town.
“Is there any way this plan could focus more on food security? For example, how much can our local farmland sustain the population that is here, given future diseases and supply interruptions and self-inflicted wounds like tariffs.
“I think we have an opportunity here to try to use this plan to help mitigate these types of things and to do some more creative thinking about the future of what farming looks like in a borderline town like ours where we’re rural and urban and pushing back and forth on this town.”
Planning Board President David Campeas asked whether Blodgett’s concerns could be done on the master plan level.
Kenyon praised Blodgett’s concerns on food security, and advised that his comments should be submitted to the state because it should be part of the farmland protection program. It currently is not.
Wasilauski responded that those things would be a great fit in the township’s health plan, especially the food security aspect and to have a sustainable local economy.
She encouraged residents to take the Montgomery Health Department’s online Plan4Health survey and to attend the in-person Plan4Health planning session: Thursday, October 8 at 7 pm. — Council Chambers, Montgomery Township Municipal Building, 100 Community Drive, Montgomery, NJ.
Advertisement
Former Mayor Devra Kennan spoke during the public comment session, pointing out that the township owns a lot of preserved farmland, and that perhaps township officials could look into incentives to encourage the growing of food on those lands.
Rather than voting to adopt the farm plan immediately, the board elected to delay its decision until its Oct. 12 meeting to allow board members time to review the lengthy draft document thoroughly.
The board also received an update on the Plan for Health Montgomery project, an initiative supported by a $50,000 grant from Plan4HealthNJ and the New Jersey Chapter of the American Planning Association.
The project integrates public health data, community surveys, and geographic mapping to evaluate how land-use decisions impact physical, mental, and social well-being.
Planning Consultant Tara Kenyon outlined key focus areas identified through local data and preliminary resident input, highlighting mobility, pedestrian and bicycle safety, housing diversity, and environmental conditions. The recommendations will be incorporated into the upcoming re-examination of the township’s master plan, with an upcoming in-person community listening session scheduled for Oct. 8.
Board Attorney Karen L. Cayci briefed the board on Township Committee Resolution 26-9-260, which authorized a preliminary study to determine whether the corporate campus at 199 Grandview Road (Block 14001, Lot 2) qualifies as an area in need of redevelopment. The site was previously occupied by J&J and Kenvue.
Montgomery Township Committee recently voted to study the former J&J/Kenvue Campus as a non-condemnation redevelopment site amid an affordable housing lawsuit.
During public comment, several local residents expressed concerns regarding potential high-density redevelopment or manufacturing uses near the environmentally sensitive Sourlands region. Speakers urged the board to evaluate the preliminary investigation independently and align future land-use decisions with the master plan's goals for open space and environmental protection.
Montgomery resident Jennifer Winell acknowledged the planning board's legal obligation to conduct the preliminary investigation, urging them to act as an objective, independent gatekeeper rather than rubber-stamping high-density development.
She argued that developer Eli Khan, principal of EKahn Development, assumed the financial risk of purchasing a vacant corporate campus at 199 Grandview Road in Skillman, which she says was under strict zoning.
"If his business model cannot succeed under our existing town rules, then that is his financial burden to carry. It is not the duty of this board to bend our zoning criteria just to safeguard a risky private investment," she said.
Winell also cited the township's 2017 Master Plan reexamination, which mandates the preservation of farmland, open space, and woodlands, noting that the 257-acre Sourlands parcel aligns directly with this conservation policy.
She suggested Montgomery Township officials should explore a public acquisition or preservation partnership, and requests that the final report explicitly document what county and state funds were explored and what hurdles prevented acquisition.
Planning Board officials noted that once the formal redevelopment study is completed, it will be presented to the public for a hearing and subsequent recommendations to the Township Committee.
