BERKELEY It’s been described as breathtakingly beautiful, with pristine grasslands, dense woods and several sparkling lakes.
The 775-acre site off Hickory Lane in Berkeley will soon belong to Ocean County.
The county will pay $11.2 million for the New Jersey Pulverizing Company site, which is located adjacent to the Ocean County Utilities Authority’s central treatment plant off Hickory Lane. The money for the purchase will come from the county’s Natural Lands Trust Fund.
K. Hovnanian once planned to build as many as 4,500 homes on the property, which has been owned by the sand mining company for nearly 100 years.
“The site is absolutely breathtaking in its beauty,” said Freeholder Director John C. Bartlett Jr., who serves as liaison to the county’s Parks and Recreation Department. “It’s quiet, it’s serene, it’s beautiful and it’s unique.”
The purchase was greeted enthusiastically by Berkeley Mayor Carmen A. Amato Jr., who attended Wednesday’s public hearing on the purchase. The freeholders voted 5 to 0 to buy the property.