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Why is the government trying to take this 175-year-old family farm for the greater good? That is the Henry family farm.
It's a 21 acre farm in Cranberry, New Jersey, and has been in Andy and Christopher's family since 1850. Their grandfather and mother were born here, and when their grandfather passed in 1936, their grandmother and mother continue to run the farm. Today, the land is leased by ranchers for cattle and sheep. Needless to say, this farm is their legacy. It's why they've turned down as much as $30 million to purchase it.
So, you can imagine the shock when Andy Henry got a letter from the township's attorney in April stating the town would like to purchase the property for affordable housing. And if the Henry family doesn't want to sell, they'll just take it anyway via eminent domain. Chairman Mau would have loved this. Eminent domain is where the government can acquire private property for public use, like building bridges and trains. They can also seize your land for private projects, and the Supreme Court agrees on this. The projects are supposed to benefit the greater good, and the government is supposed to provide fair market value.
This area used to all be farmland, but today it's surrounded by warehouses. And now New Jersey has its sights set on social justice. This is because of a new law passed in 2024 saying New Jersey must add or renovate 146,000 affordable housing units by 2035. There's also a ton of criteria, too, like water, sewer, access to mass transit, and a 250 ft warehouse buffer. For Cranberry, this means building 265 new affordable housing units over the next decade. And the Henry Farm only covers half of that.
A month after the township sent the letter, they passed an ordinance to acquire the farm. And by June, they'd submitted plans to the state. Apparently, the development would be in partnership with the Walters Group. They're a New Jersey based private developer that specializes in affordable housing. They even boast about their lawyer turned business partners' unparalleled network of connections with elected officials. The plans only call for 12 acres of the 21 acre farm, allowing the Henry family to keep their farmhouse and the farm buildings. It would include 130 apartments for very low to moderate rate incomes.
The public was outraged on the Henry family's behalf, which CNN called a MAGA storm. And even though the USDA sent a letter saying the property falls under the Farmland Protection Policy Act, the Henry brothers received an appraisal notice in July from a reality company hired by the township. The property will be inspected to determine its market value because the city is still going to proceed with imminent domain. Mayor Lisa Nerham says it's the township's responsibility to protect the interest of all residents, unless of course you're a farm owner getting in the way of the government's land grab. The Henry's filed the lawsuit to halt the development with construction set to begin as soon as February 2027. So if the government can just take what it wants when it wants, what do you really