Eco-Agro Community Presented to Planning Board

An informal hearing was held at the June 22 Planning Board meeting regarding the future options of a large estate owned by the Pyne family in the Highlands.

While the Pyne's are not looking to sell the property in the near future – their 88 year-old mother still resides in a residence there – they decided to hire a consulting firm to come up with an option for the property that would benefit both their family's and Bernards Township's wishes.

The Pyne family hired the consulting firm Ecological Group to help them come up with alternative solutions to the traditional "cookie-cutter McMansion neighborhoods".  

CEO and Co-founder of Ecological Group, Anthony Sblendorio, spoke on behalf of Pyne Sloan Investments, LLP and Sloan Pyne Associates LP. Sblendorio wanted to open up a discussion with the Planning Board about the possibilities for the property now so that they would be able to work collaboratively when the time came. 

The 250-acre Pyne estate was purchased in 1920 by Ben and John Pyne's grandfather. The land was passed on to his two daughters and split in half. In 1955, Ben and John's mother, Evelyn Pyne, moved onto one half of the property with her family and her sister moved on to the other half. 

Ben and John, who live in New York City, and their other two brothers who reside in Connecticut are looking to sell the 119-acre portion of the lot they will inherit from their mother. 

The section of the property being discussed is made up of five or six lots of varying sizes and holds three residential structures. Evelyn Pyne lives in one home and the other two dwellings are rented out. 

"Over the years our family has received numerous offers to build any number of housing units," Ben Pyne told the board. "But what I think is important to [my parents], and is important to us, is to preserve the land the way we have and maintain the flexibility around the farming."

Discussions of the town adopting the land under a preservation option fell through in the past, so the Pyne's decided to go a route that would benefit the town more financially.

Sblendorio told the Planning Board that the Pyne family would like to uphold four principles with the selling of this property and they are: agriculture, open space, family and legacy. 

It is important for the family to keep the integrity of the property by maintaining woodlands, wetlands, orchard and farm on the land. 

Sblendorio tried to connect the Bernards Township Master Plan with the wishes of the Pyne family. Bernards Township adopted a new Master Plan on March 16 of this year which, for the first time, provides an outlook that is "green". Therefore, Sblendorio came up with the concept of "Pyne Cottages" an eco-agro community as a possible option for the Pyne property. 

Instead of the traditional colonial home on a three-acre lot, Sblendorio came up with a neighborhood that contains smaller homes, farmland, a pond, open space, preserved wetlands, a community garden and trails throughout the woods. 

This option allows the bulk of the property to be open space that will be managed by an outsourced company so that the soil can be rejuvenated for farming. 

Sblendorio believes that large homes in mapped out neighborhoods are no longer marketable. For the first time, Sblendorio said, the country wants smaller homes with more amenities and to be closer to their food. 

The board was receptive to Sblendorio's approach, however, board member John Malay believed that the state government and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection were about to change their laws – making the conversation pointless.