24 Acre Horse Farm Preserved In Somerset County

SOMERSET COUNTY, NJ — A 24-acre horse farm in Somerset County has been permanently preserved as farmland.

On Oct. 26, the nonprofit New Jersey Conservation Foundation purchased the development rights on the Palermo Show Stable property on Burnt Mills Road for $368,688 from Palermo Show Stable LLC.

Palermo still owns the property, but it is now permanently restricted to agricultural uses.

"The Palermo Show Stable property is an iconic location in Bedminster. We are pleased to have been involved in the process with our partners at New Jersey Conservation Foundation to keep this property in agricultural and equestrian use," said Bedminster Mayor Larry Jacobs. "It is comforting to know that Bedminster residents will continue to enjoy seeing those beautiful horses running along Burnt Mills Road for years to come."

"The Palermo Show Stable property is located between two other preserved farms, and its preservation creates an unbroken swath of over 500 acres in the heart of Bedminster farmland," said Michele S. Byers, executive director of New Jersey Conservation Foundation. "We’re happy that this beautiful equestrian property will remain farmland forever, and we’re very grateful to our funding partners for making this possible."

Funds for the land preservation project came from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service and New Jersey’s farmland preservation program, operated by the State Agriculture Development Committee.

New Jersey Conservation intends to turn the farmland easement over to Somerset County, which holds and monitors the easements on the two adjacent farms.

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