[ Advocacy Campaign ]
Stop the Hotel Zoning Appeal Fund
In November 2023, the Hopewell Township zoning board memorialized its decision to grant a variance allowing the owners of the historic Hollystone Manor on Fiddlers Creek Road to convert the private residence to a 27 room hotel, restaurant, spa, and fitness center. Because the property is located within Hopewell Township’s ecologically sensitive Mountain Resource Conservation (MRC) district – and adjacent to the Ted Stiles Preserve at Baldpate Mountain and the Fiddlers Creek Preserve – the Sourland Conservancy and many others urged the zoning board to deny the variance application and uphold the MRC zoning per Hopewell Township’s master plan, adopted in 2002. The zoning board approved the variance application. In January 2024, a group of citizens and nonprofit organizations including the Sourland Conservancy filed an appeal with the New Jersey Superior Court.
The site of proposed Hopewell Hotel falls within Hopewell Township’s Mountain Resource Conservation (MRC) district. The purpose of this district is to protect environmentally sensitive areas, safeguard surface water resources, and protect groundwater quantity and quality.
Be a Voice for the Sourland Mountain: Support the Appeal Fund
The Sourland Conservancy has created a Zoning Appeal fund to collect donations to support following the legal process to preserve the Mountain Resource Conservation district and protect the ecological resources of the Sourland Mountain per our mission. Donations may be made via check written to the Sourland Conservancy with “Stop the Hotel Zoning Appeal Fund” in the memo line (mail to Sourland Conservancy PO Box 197 Skillman, NJ 08558) or click this link to donate to the action fund online.
These funds will only be used to support following the legal process to preserve the Mountain Resource Conservation district and protect the ecological resources of the Sourland Mountain per our mission.
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