Potter's farm in Holmdel: Neighbors fear dementia care village could erase history, quiet

HOLMDEL - A few months ago, Peter Maneri, president of the Holmdel Historical Society, received a cornerstone from Bill Potter. 

Etched into the mud-colored brick were the initials M.W.C. and the date 1840. The initials refer to Mathias Conover who, according to "Images of America: Holmdel and Pleasant Valley" by Gerald V. Ceres, former president of the Holmdel Historical Society, built the first house on the property in 1841 – 16 years before Holmdel became a town. 

“Because of the farm being sold, he said, 'Peter take that,'” Maneri recalled. “They didn’t want it to get lost.”

The William Potter Homestead, commonly known as Potter’s farm or the “Gateway to Holmdel,” closed in 2020 and the Potter family, who had owned the farm since 1920, sold their land to an elder care nonprofit, the United Methodist Communities — not to be confused with the church.  

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It kicked up a firestorm of resistance from neighboring residents who fear Holmdel is losing its rural charm and that their property values will take a nosedive. 

The farm, populated by slow roaming cows and goats, is located off exit 114 on the Garden State Parkway. It was more of a hardware store than a full-fledged farm. 

Plans for The Enclave

In 2017, Larry Carlson, chief executive officer of UMC, visited a village in the Netherlands called Hogeweyk. The village, situated in the middle of a small city, replicates its surrounding environment with a supermarket, hair salon and theater within a secure perimeter. The reason being, its residents have all been diagnosed with dementia. 

“It’s really to try to normalize life for those folks who are diagnosed with dementia,” Carlson said. “Give them a normal lifestyle and a daily routine because that minimizes the distress that they have and actually allows them to live a more meaningful existence.” 

Carlson said he had been looking for over a year for an area to bring the concepts of Hogeweyk to the United States. 

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Because Potter’s farm is located right off the Garden State Parkway, he said, “it’s convenient, it’s a good market. It’s a beautiful site.”

Carlson said he spoke to Bill Potter and later bought the rights to purchase the property from a previous developer for $5.5 million. 

“That’s different from the public record, which is $4 million,” Carlson said. “Because the previous project was a townhome project. And so, we actually had to buy the right to purchase from the townhome project developer.”

The farm sits in an area zoned for residential development. The project has gone before the zoning board for approval to develop a dementia village, called The Enclave.

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The development will include 11 one-story residential buildings divided into three neighborhoods, a two-story administrative building connected with two two-story residential buildings, a small barn and a club house. The development could house up to 105 residents, with seven residents in each house.

Each of the houses in each neighborhood are interconnected by hallways. A perimeter around the fourteen buildings secures the area so residents cannot leave the development without assistance. The residents will be clients with mid to late-stage dementia or Alzheimer’s. 

According to Carlson, the residence will have a staffing ratio of one staff member to seven residents. In the daytime, the development could see an influx of up to 60 direct care staff members, administration officials, custodians and other workers coming and going. That number and the number of direct care staff members would decrease at night. The hallways connecting the buildings allow for a lower staff-to-resident ratio. 

On site there is a grocery store, restaurant and theater.

According to Carlson, it will have farm animals on site, but it will not be a working farm. 

Ten percent of the development will count toward Holmdel’s affordable housing obligations. That means the development has to take in 10 residents who have Medicaid within three years. 

The next zoning board meeting will take place at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 1, at the Town Hall. 

Property values 

Dan Rosati who lives on Van Schoick Road, first heard about the development from his neighbor, the president of the Country Woods Homes Association, an organization Rosati is not a part of.  

“I heard mention that (the Potters) were selling the farm,” Rosati said. “I was not aware of the plans.” 

Rosati said he moved from New York City to Holmdel because “this is as far as you can get from the city where you can still commute and have a rural town experience.” 

Rosati said he is against the project because he said it will create more traffic and the proposed sewer line will run along Van Schoick Road, in front of his house. He said he’s afraid his property value will decrease. 

“It takes me five minutes sometimes to get out of my own driveway because of traffic,” Rosati said. “All those factors, it puts pressure on the value of our homes. My home in particular.” 

Rosati said if the development is approved and his property value decreases, he wants a tax abatement. 

“Are you going to readjust my taxes for what my home is going to be worth and who’s going to compensate for the value lost in that home?” He asked. 

“I’m sure it’s a nice project. It’s the wrong town for it. And so, I’m very much against it.” 

Carlson said, “I don’t see how this could impact the property value at all. There are only three houses that can actually see (The Enclave).”

Carlson said he’s been in contact with the Country Woods Homes Association and has been discussing ways to increase the landscape buffers between the houses to the north of the property. 

After a leadership turnover, the County Woods Homes Association retained Ron Gasiorowski, a lawyer from Red Bank. 

After Gasiorowski explained that the area was zoned for residential development, he said, “My client is simply seeking that the municipality keeps its word with my clients as far as how this property can be used. The applicant has the right to come before the board and present his case. We will present our case and I guess the board will make a decision.” 

Conservation

Jacob Samardin, 16, lives in the Country Woods development. Jacob, a junior at Holmdel High School, found out about the proposed development while browsing the internet. 

“I was like, this is crazy how they’re going to, you know, build on a historical farm,” Jacob said. “I didn’t know that.” 

He told his mom Yeugenia Samardin, who was equally shocked, and they began an online petition to preserve the farm for open space. 

As of last week, they have garnered 1,300 signatures at preservepottersfarm.org. 

“The petition shows that people are willing to sign up to basically say they care about preserving the land,” Jacob said. 

Yeugenia said her family usually don't attend municipal meetings, but since hearing about the proposed development, they have been attending both township and zoning board meetings to comment on the development. 

Yeugenia stressed that the petition is not against the dementia center, but against development on Potter's Farm. 

Jacob said he hopes to start a club in school about land preservation because “all these big developers buy these lands and try to build over them and destroy the beauty of New Jersey.”  

In the November election, Holmdel residents voted 3,458 to 2,758 to increase taxes to fund open space. Township committee candidate Rocco Impreveduto won his election on a platform that included open space preservation. 

Even if there is a push for open space preservation, there are many factors that come into play with land preservation. 

According to Paul Gleitz, principal planner for the Monmouth County Parks System, when county officials are looking to acquire land for open space, they work through partnerships with local officials and property owners. They look to expand their current parks and identify new areas. 

In 2017, Holmdel Park grew by 71 acres after HMF Associates donated its required open space to the Monmouth County Parks System, according to the Two River Times. 

For private property, Gleitz said, “(Property owners have) a right to own and develop property though the current zoning or through a zoning process.” 

He said if individuals had an interest in advocating for open space, they would need to start local. He said advocates would need to understand their town’s master plan and their open space and recreation plan. 

“Once they’ve done some homework and understand what their town has adopted in terms of their open space plan, they can start to show up at their council meetings and the planning board meetings and the zoning board meetings to make comment on what they think should be changed,” Gleitz said. 

William Kastning, the executive director of the Monmouth Conservation Foundation and former committee member, planning board member and zoning board member of Millstone, said if UMC was not granted an approval by the zoning board, the developer could either appeal the decision or sell the land. 

Sales of land using public funds to either the county or local municipality can only be based upon appraisals. 

“Whoever is buying it or preserving it can’t pay more than it’s appraised value,” Kastning said. “So, what I’m saying is (UMC) may not recoup its investment because property values aren’t determined based on what they’ve spent, it’s based upon what the property is, based upon comparable sales.” 

While the debate over the fate of Potter’s Farm will continue, the corner stone with the initials M.W.C. and the date 1840 etched into it will be brought to the old St. Catherine’s Church on Stillwell Road, according to Maneri.

Olivia Liu is a reporter covering transportation, Red Bank and western Monmouth County. She can be reached at oliu@gannett.com.