I've said it before, land ownership is a liability rather than an asset in New Jersey:

"Hunekes rescind fight to keep family farm" The Examiner, 2/15/07:

Today is a painful day for Millstone Township's Huneke family.

After spending more than $100,000 and a few years with an application for a subdivision pending in front of the township's Planning Board, Robert Huneke, 63, the owner of 21 Huneke Way, has decided to give up the fight to try to keep his family's farm.

Huneke had to contribute $10,000 to the township's road department for road widening and $5,000 to its Recreation Commission. He would also [have] to donate an easement for use as a bridle path.

[T]he state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) deemed his property suitable habitat for the endangered wood turtle, which tripled the necessary buffers from 50 feet to 150 feet.

"Fifty-six thousand dollars into it and the DEP changed the wetland classification, and that just killed me," Huneke said. "The entire property became a wood turtle habitat and buffer zone that would leave only a 200-foot circle around the existing house and a 200-foot circle on the property to be subdivided."

Huneke said he never saw a wood turtle on his property.

"I've got box turtles and snappers," he said, adding that the DEP did not offer any evidence that it had discovered wood turtles on his property either.

"It would be different if the wood turtle was here having babies, but they're basically saying that they're going to hold this property in case they show up," Huneke said. "They want to take care of the wood turtle, but what about Huneke?"

What frustrated Huneke even more was finding out that the properties surrounding his are not considered habitat for a wood turtle and would not fall subject to the same constraints if the owners wanted to subdivide. His property is considered such a habitat because of the pine trees his family planted there in 1977.

"That's our crop," he said. "The white pine is not a native tree to New Jersey. We planted them to harvest for lumber used to build houses. The wood turtle is millions of years old. If they haven't found Huneke Way in a million years, I doubt they ever will."

Huneke's son called the place "golden handcuffs."