$1.2M Green Acres Grant For Breton Woods Purchase OK'd By NJDEP

BRICK, NJ — Brick Township has been approved for a $1.2 million grant from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for its share of the purchase of the Breton Woods property.

Mayor Lisa Crate announced the township had been notified Tuesday that its application for the Green Acres grant funding had been approved.

The Township Council approved a $1.8 million bonding ordinance in February for its share of the $8.55 million cost to purchase the Breton Woods property and protect it as open space. The 31.4-acre parcel off Laurel Avenue had been the subject of a proposal by developer D.R. Horton to build 59 homes at the site, which it was set to purchase from Visitation Roman Catholic Church in Brick.

The Ocean County Board of Commissioners in March approved spending $6.84 million for the balance of the cost to purchase the site.

Brick Township will be carving out 6.33 acres for a playground with a parking lot at the site, which is next to Osbornville Elementary School. The township had hoped to address traffic issues as well but that was deemed not necessary, officials said earlier this spring.

The township will be responsible for any maintenance of the wooded area under the agreement with Ocean County, officials said.

Tara Paxton, Brick Township's planner, said the $8.55 million was the amount D.R. Horton was under contract to pay to Visitation Roman Catholic Church for the property, if it had received approval to build its development. The property was appraised at $8.55 million, Paxton said.

The Ocean County Natural Lands Trust Fund Advisory Committee announced its support of an $8.55 million proposal in late January to purchase the rights to buy the property from D.R. Horton, which had spent nearly a year before the Brick Township Planning Board presenting an application to build 59 homes at the site.