Township Hopes to Add to Memorial Park

The township is close to buying about 3 acres of land on Forklanding Road in the hopes of adding more field space and parking to Memorial Park.

After several years of interest, now is the right time to buy the old mum farm, owned by Robert Kay, said Mayor Kathy Fitzpatrick.

“We weren’t able to work it out financially [then],” say Mayor Kathy Fitzpatrick. “But since then, the prices dropped dramatically.”

Committeeman Ben Young, also the director of public works, said he had been negotiating for almost two years.

Fitzpatrick calls the land “very valuable inventory to add to our parks system.”

It would add much-needed parking lot space to the Forklanding Road entrance of Memorial Park whose overflow usually lines the street and residential neighborhoods across the street.

The mayor said some field space could even be added.

“When this property was first sold about five years ago, the price that was paid for it, as opposed to what we were able to buy it for, was totally different,” Young said.

He said the price for the property is about $200,000 under asking price. The agreement is for about $320,000 and will be of no extra cost to the taxpayers.

The township stands to receive about $400,000 from Lutheran Social Ministries once the diversion process goes through the Department of Environmental Protection to allow for building.

That money goes back into open space funds. The money to buy the Kay property will be from there.

“Most of the improvements at our parks are being funded by open space tax,” Fitzpatrick said. “We have very limited open space in Cinnaminson, although we do have this tax. This won’t be causing the resident an increase on their tax bill.”

Also, the property had been subdivided and approved for six houses. If this goes through, it will be open space.

Township committee members approved the introduction to the ordinance earlier this week appropriating the funds, although the deal is not done yet.

There is still subdivision work that needs to be finished. Kay, the owner of the property, is set to retain some of the land to possibly build a house on, Fitzpatrick said. A public hearing for the ordinance is scheduled for Nov. 21.

“We are excited to purchase such valuable land,” said Fitzpatrick. “This kind of stuff is really productive for the town."