Manalapan Developer: My Pig Farm Idea is Not Payback

Manalapan, NJ - A section of land in Manalapan at the corner of Rt. 33 and Millhurst Road is once again stirring debate in the township. As Patch reported last week, developer Joe Spano now wants to run a pig farm on the 123-acre property.

Previous building proposals for the land included shopping centers, affordable housing, and even a multiple sclerosis research facility, which were rejected by the township, and generated intense public debate. So why the sudden, surprise shift to pig farming? Patch asked Spano exactly that.

The reason is simple: money.

“I have to pay my mortgage, just like they do,” Spano told Patch. The "they" he's referring to is the many Manalapan residents who stood in the way of his previous attempts to develop the property.

He explained that the current farming operations, which include soybeans and corn, were not bringing in enough profit to cover the mortgage payments. There is an opportunity to partner with a developer to erect a pig farm on the site, which would generate more money. Spano said he hopes to have a small pig operation on the land as soon as next week, with an expansion planned as soon as he receives township approvals.

Don't bet on it, Township attorney Roger McGlocklin says.

“The Committee had discussed the ‘press release’ about the pig farm that owner Joe Spano plans for his property during executive session and that they had determined that the property, in a VC (Village Commercial) zone is not permitted to be a farm,” McGlocklin said during a Township meeting. “Farming is not a permitted use in the VC zone."

“I do have a right to farm,” Spano insists, referring to New Jersey’s Right To Farm Act and Manalapan’s Right to Farm ordinance.

So far, Spano has not filed any paperwork with the Township seeking official approval for a large-use animal farm. McGlocklin said the township would not approve it if he did.

"There has been no application for a farm. If there is an application, it will be denied,” McGlocklin stressed at the meeting. “Farming is permitted in most zones, but not the VC [Village Commercial] zone."

Members of Manalapan Strong, a coalition of residents who were against the previously proposed apartment and retail complex, had mixed opinions on Spano's latest swine pitch.

Some members thought a pig farm would be less impactful than apartments — no new residents to strain the city’s resources, they wrote on the group's 1,200-member Facebook page. Others said the pig farm was a vindictive play to scare those opposed to the retail/apartment project into supporting it over the pigs.

Spano was quick to dismiss that his shift from retail and affordable housing to a pig farm was malicious.

“There’s no ill intent — that’s the thing that irks me, that I’ve heard through the grapevine, that I’m trying to be vindictive,” Spano said, reiterating that the pig farm operations were a necessity to pay the bills. Should his current lawsuit against the township be successful, Spano said he would continue with previous plans to build affordable housing units.

“There have been several development proposals on the property, including one that was rejected last year,” McGlocklin said, referring to the affordable housing and retail project. “The committee is aware that another proposal will be forthcoming. We see the pig farm proposal for what it is — a threat.”

Photo credit: www.volganet.ru.