HOLMDEL, NJ — A local farm will continue its farming business in Holmdel after the Township Committee approved an ordinance for a new lease agreement with the town at a recent meeting.
Ordinance 2025-19, which calls for the town to approve a lease agreement with Patrick DePalma, the owner of DePalma Farms & Greenhouses, was given final approval by committee members at their Aug. 12 meeting, after DePalma’s bid for a new lease was introduced in July.
After DePalma was the only bidder to emerge for the new land lease, the committee gave first approval to the ordinance during their July 22 meeting and held a final vote and public hearing in August.
According to the bid proposal form submitted to the town, DePalma’s bid is for an initial amount of $1,501 per month for the initial one-year term, though the amount is subject to escalations consistent with CPI on each one-year anniversary over the proposed lease’s five-year term.
“We are very pleased that the township has given final approval to a new lease agreement with Patrick to continue farming the majority of the DePalma homestead property,” Sarah Biser of Fox Rothschild, counsel to Patrick DePalma, told Patch.
In an email statement, Mayor Brian Foster said he was pleased with the agreement as well and said he looks forward to continued work with the DePalma family and farm property.
“I am happy to see that the farm will continue to be leased out to the DePalma family and look forward to continued cooperation with them for this beautiful property here in our town!” Foster said.
Approval of the new land lease with DePalma Farms came after a long battle between DePalma and the town to renew the farm’s lease.
Known in the local community for their plants and produce, DePalma Farms & Greenhouses is a family-run farm that was first established in 1917 and began a 25-year lease and verbal agreement with Holmdel Township in 2000, Patrick DePalma said.
Once DePalma was made aware that the farm's lease would expire in June 2025, he requested a lease extension with the town, which was later denied.
According to township officials, the lease extension could not be granted because NJ Local Lands & Buildings law requires them to put the property lease up for public bid to guard against “favoritism, improvidence, extravagance, and corruption" and to secure "the benefits of unfettered competition" for the public.
After the committee voted to put the DePalma Farms & Greenhouses land lease up for bid in June, Patrick DePalma filed a complaint against Holmdel Township and the Holmdel Township Committee, which argued that the bidding law the town used contains an exception for leases of real property for agricultural and horticultural use that could be applied to DePalma Farms.
In an email statement previously sent to Patch, Biser said that, pending execution of the farm’s new lease with the town, they have agreed to dismiss the lawsuit, which has been pending in Monmouth County Superior Court.
During the committee’s Aug. 12 meeting, resident Patrick Trischitta questioned whether the committee was still planning to approve the new lease ordinance while the lawsuit was pending.
According to township officials, they are currently working with DePalma’s counsel to get the lawsuit dismissed. The ordinance was unanimously passed (minus Committeeman DJ Luccarelli, who was not in attendance) after public comment on the ordinance ended.
To see the full agenda for the Aug. 12 meeting, you can click here. To watch a recording of the meeting, you can click here.
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