By the end of the decade, the money in the governor's program will be used up. But to meet the governor's challenge, too many questionable deals are being rushed through, complains Jeff Tittel, director of the Sierra Club's New Jersey chapter. The state has been subsidizing the purchase of open space and farmlands for decades. The rules for open space purchase are broad, to protect pristine areas from development. But the rules for farmland preservation are more specific.
Farmers continue to own their land.
But they surrender the right to build homes on the site. In return, the state compensates them for what a developer would have paid. If the farm is too wet, or the land can't be built upon, it has little development value and gets a lot less money. But critics say the rules for both programs need to be tightened, to prevent taxpayers from shelling out big bucks for junk land. Some of the earlier deals are being re-examined.