Chesterfield Township, population 5,125, is located ten miles southeast of Trenton, New Jersey in Burlington County. Since the 1970s, the Township has undertaken several initiatives to preserve farmland in the face of development made possible by various highway improvements. For example, the Township has preserved thousands of acres of land by providing matching funds for farmland preservation under New Jersey?s Agricultural Retention and Development Program.
Chesterfield adopted its first TDR program in 1975. The program was amended in 1985 and 1987. In 1989, New Jersey adopted the Burlington County TDR Demonstration Act, which allows any town or city in the County to adopt a TDR program as long as the County approves it. Throughout the early and mid 1990s, Chesterfield conducted several studies and developed various draft TDR master plans. In 1997, the Township adopted a new township master plan followed in 1998, by new planning, zoning and TDR ordinances. The 1998 TDR program is described in detail in Beyond Takings and Givings and will not be repeated in this update. At the time of publication of that book in 2003, developers had submitted applications under the 1998 ordinance but none had been approved.
As reported by Kevin Riordan in the April 2004 issue of Planning magazine, Chesterfield updated its master plan again in 2003 and the TDR program has come alive with the adoption of the 560-acre Old York Village Plan. This plan calls for 1,300 dwelling units with an architectural style that complements the nearby historic village of Crosswicks as well as the surrounding rural area. The Old York Village Plan incorporates smart growth and traditional neighborhood development concepts including the use of open space, bike paths and a central square. To make higher densities possible, New Jersey allowed the Old York Village development to tap into an underutilized sewer system built for two state correctional facilities in the Township. New Jersey also allowed the historic village of Crosswicks to replace its septic systems by using the state sewerage facilities.
So far, two developments with a combined total of 317 units have been approved for the Old York Village receiving area and applications for another 726 units are currently under review. As explained in Beyond Takings and Givings, sending area allocation varies from one credit per 2.6 acres of land with slight septic system constraints to one credit per 50 acres of land with severe constraints. Similarly, the amount of development allowed in receiving areas varies depending on development product: one credit per detached single family house, 0.5 credits per apartment unit, one credit per 2,000 sf of commercial floor area and no credits for affordable housing units. Consequently, it is difficult to estimate the amount of land that might be preserved by the development of Old York Village.
Chesterfield Township has a thriving agricultural community, including this horse farm.
Chesterfield Township has been a leader in farmland preservation.
