Madison appeals court order saying that most of Drew Forest is developable

By BRETT FRIEDENSOHN Managing Editor Mar 7, 2025 

MADISON – The borough Thursday, March 6 appealed a state Superior Court court ruling saying that almost two-thirds of the Drew Forest is developable.

State Superior Court Judge Stephen Hansbury said in a ruling Friday, Feb. 14 that about 35.6 of the forest’s 51.6 acres is developable.

The next step after the state Superior Court is the Appellate Division of the Superior Court. “While the legal process continues, we remain open to settlement discussions with Drew University,” the Borough of Madison said in a statement.

“From the start, Madison has viewed affordable housing as a moral responsibility, not just a legal obligation. We remain committed to preserving the Drew Forest—a vital natural resource for Madison and surrounding communities—while also ensuring the development of affordable housing, in a way that best serves the taxpayers of Madison.”The Friends of the Drew Forest said in a statement that the decision is flawed.

“We believe that the entire Drew Forest should be preserved,” the Friends said. “It is treasured by the community for its ecological, educational, and recreational value.”

This ruling was in connection with a lawsuit Drew filed against Madison in June 2022, claiming the borough conducted years of bad-faith land acquisition talks with the university in an effort to look good to the court as it negotiated its third-round affordable housing settlement.

Meanwhile, the borough has agreed to a nonbinding term sheet with Drew to buy and preserve the forest, which was announced Friday, Nov. 8.

The agreement is for $65.1 million which involves Madison purchasing the Drew Forest for preservation in perpetuity, and includes revenue from development on additional university land for multi-family, inclusionary residential housing units.

Drew said in a statement that “Despite the Borough of Madison’s decision to appeal Judge Hansbury’s recent decision, Drew University remains eager to reach a settlement agreement with Madison to sell the university’s surplus land, preserve The Drew Forest, and support Madison’s affordable housing obligation.”

The Friends said they stand by their independent ecological expert, Davey Resource Group, who determined that the forest “has extremely high value as a preserved open space where it can continue in its current capacity. Development of the property would eliminate a significant source of groundwater recharge to the Buried Valley Sole Source Aquifer. It would also disrupt ongoing public and student use of the land and long-term research projects that are being carried out there.”It was also determined that development would remove identified habitat for the federally endangered Indiana bat and many irreplaceable large trees, the Friends said.

“It would undermine 14 years of restoration work with university partners including students, community volunteers, and donors whose goal was to improve the preserve in perpetuity as a healthy forest ecosystem,” the Friends said.

The Friends brought up how the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, one of the largest financial donors to Drew Forest restoration, said that “although our 10-year contract with the University had ended, it was the understanding that the funds were only being provided to restore the forest for the long-term.”

“It would be inappropriate to sell this land for development rights after the significant effort that has been made to restore it as a rare remnant of the forests that once covered most of northern New Jersey,” the Friends said.

Contact Brett Freidensohn at brettf@newjerseyhills.com.