Stafford Farms To Be Sold

There is an effort building to preserve an historic horse farm in a rapidly-growing South Jersey community. It's also one of the last large plots of open space not already filled up with housing developments. The Stafford Farm is in the middle of Voorhees Township and Camden County.

If you look around, it's hard to tell this is Voorhees Township; it looks and feels more like the country and the families who live here want to keep it that way. After 225 years, the Staffords are selling the property. They say their top priority is preserving their way of life, but there's no guaranty that will happen. Blue sky, green grass, and fresh country air. This farmland is one of the few remaining plots of rolling pasture in the region.

“We have 142 acres. Originally we had 144 acres,” said Pete Stafford.

The land belongs to Pete Stafford and his five brothers. It's been in the family for 225 years. They train race horses here. But now the family has decided to sell the land.

“There's six of us now, six brothers who own the farm, and the next generation is some 23 people, and I think it's unlikely that 23 people can make a decision on anything,” he said.

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They hope to preserve the land so the family has made an agreement with Voorhees Township. If the township comes up with enough money, it can buy the land on condition it is preserved as an open space.

Voorhees mayor, Harry Platt said, “It's a very highly sought after piece of land and when the family came to us and said they'd like to try to preserve it and for us to be involved with that, we were excited.”

But if the township doesn't come up with the money, Stafford said the family has several offers from private developers, “Perhaps other offers would surface and we'd probably have to sell.”

Which means the open farmland could look more like strip malls and housing developments. The Staffords hope it doesn't come to that. After all, they say it's not just about preserving land, it's about preserve their way of life.

“We would hope that perhaps we could bring our grandchildren back and they could still see it the way it was,” says Stafford.

Author: Copyright 2002 by NBC 10. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.