Community members make one last plea to save Cranbury Township farm from eminent domain
Chris Henry and a group of supporters filed into Town Hall in Cranbury Township ahead of Monday night's committee meeting in an attempt to save his family’s farm.
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A community in Middlesex County is making a final plea to help save a local farm from being seized by eminent domain.
Chris Henry and a group of supporters filed into Town Hall in Cranbury Township ahead of Monday night's committee meeting to make one last appeal to committee members to let the Henry family farm stay in the family.
Chris Henry, who owns the farm with his brother Andy, spoke during the public comments.
"What we’re asking is that we would like the township committee to look at other alternatives that would not require this blunt force method of eminent domain, if possible, against a family that does not want to sell their property," Henry said.
The council did not take any action during Monday’s meeting, but this is the last committee meeting before the Planning Board votes on whether to seize the farm through eminent domain. This has caused contention in the small community, with council members saying they’re receiving threats.
Deputy Mayor Eman El-Badawi said Town Hall employees are traumatized and afraid.
RELATED: Cranbury Township family fights to save 175-year-old farm from eminent domain
"The harassment is only getting more aggressive with calls, emails and texts from Texas, Michigan, California and much, much more, with explicit sexual torturous expressions and death threats," El-Badawi said.
News 12 spoke with Andy Henry over the phone.
“I have no personal knowledge of these threats. If these threats are happening, they should not be happening on either side," he said.
The Henry family has owned the farm on South River Road in Cranbury since 1850. The town wants to use the property to build mandated affordable housing. Some say the town is in a difficult situation and it needs land that gets a 100% rating from the state to get federal funding. Henry Farm, they say, is the best option.
Dan Harshbarger has lived in the town for almost 20 years.
"Thirty percent of the properties are locked up in farmland preservation. Another percentage of the land is recreational space. Another percentage of the land is already built with homes. It leaves very few pieces," Harshbarger said.
The planning board is set to take a vote at its meeting in July.
