Land swap in hands of Sparta Township Council

Sparta Township is working with New Jersey Natural Lands Trust (NJNLT) to obtain a portion of land in the Wallkill Preserve that could allow the town to construct a recreational trail connecting Station Park to West Mountain Road.

To obtain the 5.6 acres from the greater 30 or so acre parcel, Sparta would transfer three parcels to NJNLT totaling 28 acres to be added to the Wallkill and Sterling Hill preserves. While much of the Wallkill Preserve consists of freshwater wetlands, according to NJNLT, “the proposed conveyance area is post-agricultural uplands that are now vegetated with non-native shrubs and young trees.”

Before any trail would be constructed on the 5.6 aces, Sparta Mayor Neill Clark said the town would first like to determine the feasibility of constructing a greater “Safe Schools Trail” that would involve other parcels of land from the middle school to Station Park, which already connects to the high school.

“We don’t have to decide now whether we’re going to build a trail on those 5.6 acres,” Clark said. “Even if we don’t build a trail on the 5.6 acres, the conveyance makes sense because now the township will own property that’s contiguous with Station Park and the New Jersey Natural Lands Trust will own land contiguous with other properties that it owns.”

A member of Sparta’s Trails Committee, Doug Dykstra, of Dykstra Associates, has been working with NJNLT on the proposed project at no cost.

Compensation lands from Sparta to New Jersey Natural Lands Trust

According to NJNLT’s website, none of the three proposed compensation parcels are known to contain structures or any hazardous substance concerns. They are as follows:

• Freshwater wetlands, with the Wallkill River being the southeastern boundary of the property, totaling 4.5 acres.

• Forested wetlands adjacent to the Wallkill Preserve totaling 8.9 acres.

• Forested uplands totaling 14.6 acres within a 38-acre parcel adjacent to NJNLT’s Sterling Hill Preserve. Connecting the Sterling Hill Preserve to the Wallkill Preserve, the parcel would be open to the public and managed for biodiversity purposes.

Next step

Though NJNLT approved the land swaps – or conveyances – on Oct. 3, the Sparta Township Council must pass a resolution to move forward with the deal.

“The next step is to negotiate the deed for both the land we are conveying to the New Jersey Natural Lands Trust and the land that the New Jersey Natural Lands Trust is conveying to us,” Clark said. “We can’t start the contracting process until the resolution authorizing us to do so is passed.”

A resolution authorizing just that is expected to come before the council Nov. 13.

Created in 1968 by the state legislature, New Jersey Natural Lands Trust is an independent agency whose mission is to preserve land in its natural state for enjoyment by the public and to protect natural diversity through the acquisition of open space.