Cherry Hill will get a working farm again. Township Council voted Monday, Aug. 17, to authorize bidding on an agricultural lease for 9.5 acres of Holly Ravine Farm at Evesham and Springdale roads, clearing the way for a farmer to grow crops on land the township spent $3,859,000 to save from developers.

"We are on the verge of accomplishing something virtually unheard of in New Jersey," Mayor David Fleisher told 70and73.com on Monday.

The remaining 12 acres of the 22.54-acre property will become public passive recreation space with new hiking trails through the ravine. Two Gilmour family farmhouses on the site were demolished April 14; a barn and garage near the Holly Ravine Shopping Center will remain.

Former Cherry Hill Mayor John C. Gilmour Jr. founded the farm in the mid-1920s, buying a cow and building what became a dairy operation known for its Cowtail dairy bar on Evesham Road. The township purchased the land from Gilmour's heirs in 2024 after the Cherry Hill Zoning Board unanimously rejected a developer's proposal to build senior housing on the property.

Part of a 'trifecta'

Fleisher framed the farm lease as one leg of what he called a "trifecta of protecting neighborhoods" from development. The other two pieces are new parks in Kingston, expected to open in about 60 days, and Brookfield, expected within 60 to 90 days.

In Kingston, a park with a playground, open space and a recreational area is rising on the site of the former Kingston Swim Club, which the township acquired and demolished. An existing street hockey court is being rebuilt and blended into the new park grounds.

In Brookfield, a playground and open space will occupy a 4.6-acre site that formerly held the USS New Jersey Lodge No. 62 Free and Accepted Masons, bounded by Haddonfield-Berlin, Ashbrook, and Oakdale roads and Route 295. The township acquired that land after a developer disclosed plans to build a drug rehabilitation center there, Fleisher said.

Earlier this year, council unanimously passed Ordinance 2026-9, amending the Holly Ravine Farm deed to assist with open space funding reimbursements. All seven council members voted in favor: Councilwomen Jennifer Apell, Sangeeta Doshi and Jill Hulnick; Councilmen Rob Connor and Daniel DiRenzo; Council Vice President Michele Golkow; and Council President William Carter III.

The township has not yet announced a timeline for selecting a farmer or when crops might appear on the Holly Ravine acreage.