Manchester To Preserve Route 547 Parcel For Open Space

MANCHESTER, NJ — Manchester Township will spend $2 million on a Route 547 parcel to preserve it as open space, after the Township Council approved of bonding for $2.6 million for the purpose.

The bond ordinance and the purchase of the property at 3101 Route 547 and a second parcel at 3576 Ridgeway Road approved at a recent council meeting aims to prevent the property from being developed into housing, township officials said.

Some of the cost will be reimbursed by the state, officials said.

Both parcels are owned by the Diocese of Trenton, according to online property records.

The Route 547 in particular "is very developable," Councilman Robert Hudak said.

That possibility is worrisome to township officials, where additional housing would add to the tax burden for services, especially for the township's schools.

In addition, the parcel on Route 547 — also known as South Hope Chapel Road — is just down the road from the site of the proposed 459-home Jackson Trails development, on the Jackson-Manchester border. The Jackson Township Planning Board rejected the application for that development in December 2019, but that rejection now is the subject of a federal lawsuit, the Asbury Park Press reported.

Manchester officials, in approving the open space purchase, said the fact that County officials have said they will not widen Route 547 to accommodate additional traffic also played into their decision to purchase the property.

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