Sayreville will pursue 156 acres off Main St. Officials explore funding options as land is appraised BY MICHAEL ACKER Staff Writer Sayreville is expected to have 156 acres of land off Main Street appraised for possible purchase as open space. The property, formerly home to the Crossman Sand Co., is the location of the oldest-known amber in North America. The prehistoric material is important because it preserves DNA information in fossilized ants, mosquitoes and other life forms, local historians have noted. Lorraine and Peter Mocco own the site, which is located across from the Main Street Townhomes between Main Street and Washington Road. Developers have long targeted the property for a 200-unit housing community dubbed Fulton's Landing, as well as commercial construction, but concerns have been raised about the property's historic significance, in addition to the impact of its development on taxpayers. "Drive down lower Main Street on a nice day and look at the expanse of open space," Councilman Stanley Drwal said. "Imagine that built up with housing." Much of the Mocco property was given high priority for preservation in a recent report by the borough's Open Space Committee. The committee's chairman, Joseph Kupsch, said that while the committee included only 100 of the 156 acres, it would make sense for the borough to seek funds for the entire site. Many other undeveloped sites, such as those along the waterfront, have an abundance of wetlands and streams that make them undesirable to developers, Kupsch said. Properties like the Moccos' are rare in the borough, he said. "It's one of the largest undeveloped tracts that is also developable in Sayreville," Kupsch said. "So the significance in Sayreville is big, because it could result in 200 homes." The development of additional commercial or industrial uses on the site would also impact traffic, he said. While it is not known whether there is more amber on the site, the possibility makes it desirable from a historical perspective, Kupsch added. "If it is 90-million-year-old amber, there can't be too many sites in New Jersey that have stuff like that found on it, and there could very well be more," he said. Borough Council President Thomas Pollando, a Democrat, said he wants the borough to spend as little money as possible on the property, which is why officials are talking to representatives of various state agencies about putting together funds to purchase the site. "It is so important to work with elected officials around the state," Pollando said. "Thirty million dollars, we don't have that kind of money." Kupsch has said the borough presently has about $3 million in its open space fund. Mayor Kennedy O'Brien, a Republican, said the timing of the appraisal is suspect in light of the upcoming election on Nov. 6, and added that Sayreville taxpayers will be burdened with the cost. "The value of the property is north of $30 million," O'Brien said. "The majority of that money will have to come from the taxpayers of Sayreville, and it should be an item on the referendum [to see] if that's what the people want." Pollando, who is running against O'Brien for mayor, said he hopes the appraisal will be done soon so that officials can begin discussions with the owner, knowing the site's fair market value. "We can't move forward until the appraisal process begins," Pollando said. O'Brien agreed the Mocco property is highly desirable, and said funds from the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust could help, since the agency provides low-interest loans. The borough, he said, worked with a willing seller to preserve the Dieker Farm over the course of four years, and the 400-acre former National Lead redevelopment process is still in discussion after eight years, so the process of purchasing the Mocco property would be a long one. "If in the end they are not willing to sell, and it needs to be condemned, then it will take that much longer to fight it out in court," O'Brien said. Drwal, a Democrat, said O'Brien has been waiting for something to happen with the Mocco property, while the council is seeking out funds from various agencies to achieve its goal. He disputed that borough taxpayers would pay as much as O'Brien suggested. "We have been doing the legwork so that we can launch this and save the taxpayers, over time, huge amounts of money," Drwal said. Drwal said the cost would have to be reasonable for local taxpayers in order for borough officials to move forward with the purchase, but he noted that the cost of housing and the resulting influx of schoolchildren would be even worse. Sayreville residents have packed meetings at borough hall when Fulton's Landing has come before the Planning Board in the past. The developer and the borough have been involved in litigation over the application for the past three years. Fulton's Landing sued the board after it first denied the application, but a state Superior Court judge rejected the argument that the developer was entitled to default approval. Fulton's Landing appealed that decision, and though an Appellate Division judge upheld the earlier ruling, it also sent the matter back to the Planning Board, saying the application was complete with the exception of roadway easements. In January, the Planning Board then voted against the developer's plan to build 207 single-family homes on 100 acres of the land. The matter continues to be litigated. Drwal said the historical significance of the Mocco property and the potential impact of development on taxes, traffic and other issues make it a matter of great importance. "This is a once-in-a-generation chance to really make a huge impact on the town," he said.