Manchester OKs $550K Open Space Purchase Of Ridgeway Site

MANCHESTER, NJ — The Manchester Township Council on Monday approved spending $550,000 to buy a parcel on Ridgeway Road to preserve it as open space.

The purchase, part of a $2.6 million bond ordinance the council approved in September, is one of two parcels that the township is buying from the Diocese of Trenton.

The 6.58-acre property at 3576 Ridgeway Road, which sits in a single-family residential zone, was appraised by Maher Appraisal Company at $460,000, and by Integra Realty Resources at $500,000, according to the ordinance describing the purchase.

"The open space program is really important to the township," Manchester Mayor Ken Palmer said. With the approval in July of the Jackson Parke project "and the fact that that road (Route 571) will never be widened," buying open space is the only way to help control the potential traffic problems, he said.

Palmer added that while it seems like a lot of money — the township is bonding for $2.6 million for the Ridgeway Road purchase and the parcel at 3101 Route 547 — there is funding from the state that will reimburse the township up to 50 percent of the purchase prices.

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