Jon and Tracey Stewart's Colts Neck Farm Proposal Hits a Few Speedbumps

Colts Neck, NJ - Jon and Tracey Stewart hit a speedbump Tuesday night in their quest to open a farm animal sanctuary and educational center in leafy, pastoral Colts Neck, New Jersey.

The Monmouth County Agriculture Development Board unanimously approved the Stewarts' request to turn 45-acre Hockhockson Farm on Rt. 537 into a commercial farm, meaning the Stewarts can grow and sell crops on the farm, as is their plan.

However, what the Board did not approve was the main concept of what Tracey, and her husband, envision for the property: To turn it into a shelter for livestock rescued from slaughterhouses, and to open an agriculture educational center on the farm.

Because they propose major changes to the farm, Jon and Tracey Stewart need the county agricultural board to approve their Site-Specific Agricultural Management Practice (SSAMP) application.

After hearing more than two hours of testimony Tuesday night on the concept, the county board voted to postpone their vote on their SSAMP application until its May meeting, a county official said.

And that's not the only issue: Colts Neck's deputy mayor Michael D. Fitzgerald said Tuesday night he was irked the Stewarts presented their application before the county, leaving out the local Colts Neck planning board.

"We’re not adverse to the concept, we’re adverse to the process," Fitzgerald testified Tuesday night, according to the APP. It "usurp(s) any authority that Colts Neck has to regulate what’s being proposed."

In response, the Stewarts' attorney Philip San Filippo promised to present their plans to the Colts Neck Planning Board once the Monmouth Agriculture Board approves their application, reported the Asbury Park Press. An entity owned by the Stewarts, JTS Land Trust, is in contract to buy the farm.

Testimony runs for more than two hours

San Filippo called on the following people to testify Tuesday night: Robert Cooke, current landowner of Hockhockson Farm; Robert Laurino, who currently farms Hockhockson and also runs a farm stand on the property; Tracey Stewart; Peter Reyolds of North River Architecture & Planning and Sean Walsh of Appleseed Permaculture.

The attorney representing Colts Neck Township was Joseph A. Clark. Clark cross-examined everyone, except for Sean Walsh.

In her testimony Tracey, a former veterinary technician, said she envisions students from the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary Hospital and Rutgers University's Cook College touring the farm and studying the animals, reported the Asbury Park Press. She anticipates about 100 visitors a day to the farm, where they can learn about sustainable agriculture, reports the APP. Anywhere from 15 to 50 farmhands will be housed on the property as well as four to six cows, two to four pigs, six to 10 sheep, six to 10 goats, two to four horses and up to 50 chickens would live there — all rescued farm animals.

The couple owns a 12-acre farm in Middletown and lives in Red Bank.

The Monmouth Agriculture Board's next public meeting is May 3 at 7:30 p.m., and is expected to give a final vote on the Hockhockson Farm proposal then.

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