A plan by the town of Cherry Hill to allow agriculture on the newly acquired Holly Ravine Farm open space raised concerns with the Planning Commission about the use of pesticides and the possibility that trees would have to be cut down to make room for farmland.

The Town Council has asked the Board for recommendations before making a final decision on whether to allow agriculture/horticulture as a permitted use under the zoning ordinance for the 23-hectare property.

The municipality purchased the property from the Gilmour family in January for $3,859,000 to preserve it as open space after a developer proposed clearing the land for senior housing. Residents protested the development of Holly Ravine.

Funds from the municipality’s open space budget were used to purchase the land. One way to get at least some of the money back from the state is to apply for a grant from the State Agriculture Development Committee, whose mission is to preserve farmland while “maintaining the profitability of agriculture.”

However, to be eligible for the grant, farming must be a permitted use of the land. Although the Gilmour family has farmed the land for decades, it is zoned residential. Farming would be a permitted use, while the basic use under the zoning plan would still be residential.

At Monday’s meeting, board members vacillated between the possibility of receiving federal agricultural funds that could then be used to preserve even more open space in Cherry Hill and concerns about pesticides and tree removal.

The members voted 7 to 1 in favour of changing the land use plan and made concrete recommendations on how to deal with the land. Board member Marlyn Kalitan was the dissenting voice.

“I thought this whole property was for the people of Cherry Hill,” she told board members. She also raised concerns about the use of pesticides.

“I believe that open spaces should be open spaces and not farms,” Kalitan explained her dissenting vote.

Board member Sheila Griffithwho voted to recommend a change to the zoning plan, noted, however, that the municipality appears to be deviating from the original concept it had when it purchased the property months ago.

Kathleen Cullenthe director of community development, said one use does not necessarily exclude the other. She said the community is working to create passive recreational opportunities, such as walking trails, on the non-agricultural portion of the property.

City Councilor Jennifer Appellthe council member on the board, was the most vocal in his support for preserving the property.

“I would like to say that we must not cut down trees and that we must practice organic farming,” Apell said at the meeting.

The panel’s resolution to the town council included restricting tree felling and recommending organic farming on Holly Ravine land.

Appell said that while the Planning Board can only make recommendations on the zoning change, including the tree removal and organic farming concerns in the resolution will give her more leverage in defending those issues at the next council meeting, at which a public hearing on the proposed change will be held.

“This is one of the few open spaces left in the community. The trees are really important,” she said. “I’m really worried about the trees and I’m really worried about the pesticides.”

Previous coverage of this story on 70and73.com: