GOP Assembly candidates ask Cranbury to designate farm historic site

A pair of GOP Assembly candidates have called on Cranbury officials to back off on plans the town has made to seize part of a farm to meet affordable housing requirements, a proposal that’s sparked anger across the country.

The 21-acre farm is owned by Andy and Christopher Henry, who live in New Mexico and lease the property to a tenant who raises cattle and sheep, according to MyCentralJersey.com. An attorney told the publication that the brothers will not sell the property, but town officials can acquire the property through eminent domain. 

The Trump administration has offered the brothers its support, with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins asking town officials in a letter to stop their plan. 

Marty Flynn and Joseph Stillwell, the GOP nominees for Assembly in the 14th legislative district, said in a letter that the farm should be designated as a historic site and preserved. Flynn said the State Agriculture Development Committee is unable to preserve the farm if the town continues to seek to build housing on the lot.

“This is an unconscionable choice Cranbury is being forced to make—pave over farmland and seize it from veterans in the name of meeting a state quota,” Flynn said in the release. “The SADC has the application to preserve this farm, but Cranbury must act first by removing it from its affordable housing list. The clock is ticking.”

Flynn was the GOP’s nominee for mayor of Hamilton in 2023, and Stillwell is the vice chair of the Mercer County Young Republican Federation. The 14th legislative district includes Cranbury.

The Henry brothers are suing the town over the plan, and a GoFundMe has raised nearly $140,000 in defense of the farm.

Town officials have said the farm is one of the only properties in the state eligible to hold affordable housing. The town must build 265 such units to meet its obligations under the Mount Laurel doctrine, according to MyCentralJersey.

Stillwell said Assembly members Wayne DeAngelo (D-Hamilton) and Tennille McCoy (D-Hamilton), their Democratic opponents come November, should defend the farm.

“The silence of DeAngelo and McCoy speaks volumes,” Stillwell said. “They’ve chosen to stand with Trenton’s overdevelopment machine rather than with two veteran brothers, their family’s legacy, and the broader Cranbury community. Their inaction is a betrayal of both agricultural preservation and basic fairness.”