By Sunayana Prabhu
HOLMDEL – DePalma Farms is expected to stay in the hands of its founding family, at least for the next five years, under a new lease conditionally awarded by the township committee.
After lengthy arguments with the township committee, a potential legal battle, a signature campaign – Save the DePalma Farms – and a band of residents supporting the farming family’s legacy, Patrick DePalma put in a bid to lease the farm.
DePalma is the owner and operator of the multigenerational farm. He made the bid during the township’s open public bidding process as required by law.
DePalma’s attorney, Sarah Biser, confirmed that DePalma is the sole bidder.
“He’s very happy to be able to farm on the DePalma homestead property for another five years starting on Jan. 1,” Biser said, unable to reveal more details of the lease. “I would be talking about a document that’s not signed yet,” she said. “It’ll be signed sometime in August.”
The Holmdel Township Committee introduced an ordinance last week awarding DePalma the lease for the township-owned agricultural property that houses DePalma Farms & Greenhouses at 32 Centerville Road.
Under Ordinance 2025-19, the committee authorized the lease of Block 50.19, Lots 48 and 51, which includes a family homestead, greenhouses and active farmland. The township officials had to follow a public bidding process in accordance with New Jersey’s Local Lands and Buildings Law, which township attorney Michael Collins explained during multiple committee meetings.
The DePalma family owned the farm until 2000, when it sold the property to the township to resolve inheritance disputes and entered into a 25-year lease that expired June 30 of this year. According to township records, Holmdel purchased the 100-acre property June 28, 2000, for $4.3 million, 60 acres of which were subject to the 25-year lease with DePalma. The remaining 40-acre section is listed on the township’s Recreation Open Space In- ventory (ROSI) and falls under state-recognized Green Acres regulations, securing its status as preserved open space.
DePalma asked for a lease extension last month, hoping the current leadership would honor the verbal agreement made 25 years ago with the then-township committee.
“It was a shaking of a hand,” he said during the June 13 township committee meeting, explaining that the family sold the farmland with an understanding that their lease would be extended after 25 years. The original rent was set at $1,000 per month but was reduced in 2020 to $500.
However, township officials followed state law and voted to initiate a public bidding process for leasing the property, denying the lease extension requested by DePalma. DePalma then engaged in the competitive bidding process to secure his century-long agricultural legacy.
According to recent township documents, DePalma was the sole bidder in response to the township’s request for bids issued earlier this summer and was conditionally awarded the lease during the committee’s July 22 meeting.
The property, commonly known as 32 Centerville Road, will be leased exclusively for farming purposes. The lease agreement is expected to mirror the terms outlined in the township’s original bid documents, pending final review and approval by the township attorney.
According to the ordinance, “the lease will help preserve the agricultural use of the property while supporting local farming.”
The ordinance also authorizes the mayor, township administrator and other officials to finalize and execute the lease, contingent upon all conditions outlined in the initial resolution being met. The details of the lease stay confidential until the next meeting.
A public hearing and vote on final adoption of the ordinance is scheduled for Aug. 12 at 7:30 p.m. at Holmdel Township Hall. Residents will have the opportunity to comment before the committee votes on the measure.
The article originally appeared in the July 31 – August 6, 2025 print edition of The Two River Times.
