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Applicant:  Mercer County

Parkland Name/Location: 

Nami Tract
Township of Hamilton
Block 2732, Lot 3.01

Description of Proposed Diversion/Disposal:  

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has received an application from Mercer County requesting approval to divert 0.106 acre of parkland, through the conveyance of an access easement to a neighboring property owner, to accommodate the relocation of part of an existing access easement and driveway from property owned by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority onto County-owned Green Acres encumbered property.  The relocation is needed to preserve legal access to properties owned by the County and the neighboring private landowner (Block 2732, Lot 6) to Crosswicks-Hamilton Square Road because of right of way acquisitions by the Authority as part of the Interchange 6 to 9 Widening Project.

As part of the Widening Project, the Authority needed to acquire certain parklands from Mercer County, including interests in Block 2732, Lot 3.01 in Hamilton Township. These interests were acquired pursuant to a prior diversion application which received State House Commission approval on October 27, 2010. At that time, the County and the Authority informed the NJDEP and the Commission that they were still in the process of resolving access issues involving the Nami Tract and the adjacent farm (Lot 6) and that additional approvals might be needed from the NJDEP and the Commission in the future.   The County and the Authority now seek to address the outstanding access issue through the diversion of a 0.106 acre easement in order to relocate the prior access easement, for the benefit of the County, the Authority and the owner of Lot 6, partly onto Authority-owned land and partly onto County-owned land.

As compensation for the proposed diversion, the County will acquire from the Authority and dedicate as Green Acres encumbered open space more than double the land proposed for the diversion. The proposed replacement lands consist of 0.45 acre: (i) a 0.274 acre parcel adjacent to Block 2732, Lot 3.01 and Crosswicks-Hamilton Square Road, and (ii) a 0.176 acre parcel adjacent to Block 2732, Lot 3.01 and Block 2732, Lot 6, both in the Township of Hamilton.

A map and a survey depicting the proposed diversion area and proposed replacement parcels are here:

Nami Tract Minor Diversion Map

Access Road Survey

This application has been classified as a minor diversion/disposal of parkland.  Pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:26.6(c), a public hearing on the proposed diversion/disposal application will be conducted as set forth below.

Hearing Date/Time:  Thursday, January 9, 2025 at 6:00 PM

Hearing Location:  

Hamilton Township Public Library
1 Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. Way
Hamilton, New Jersey 08619

Public Comments Accepted Through:  Thursday, January 23, 2025

Please see public notice linked above for information about how to submit written comments.  Emailed comments to the Department are preferred.  Please include “SHC 1100016 Nami Tract Minor Diversion” in the subject line of any comments emailed to the Department.