Last updated/Reviewed on November 11, 2025
Overview
The Black Run Preserve is one of the most beloved natural areas in New Jersey and an important keystone of the Pinelands National Reserve. The headwaters of the preserve is threatened by a development proposal that would bulldoze some 778 acres and degrade the water and habitat quality for generations. This is happening at the same time that a Pinelands CMP amendment that would prevent this intensity of development is working its way through the bureaucratic red tape.
Current Status
Pinelands Redesignation Status: October 10, 2025, the full Pinelands Commission voted to adopt CMP amendments that would reduce the potential development that could occur on this land. The rule will officially be in effect in January of 2026. Evesham Township then has a year to implement zoning changes, but has been making a commendable effort to expedite this.
Permanent Preservation Status: The land owner has indicated their intention to preserve the land, so government and non-profit partners have been negotiating an acquisition deal. Burlington County has committed $5 million, the Pinelands Conservation Fund has committed $3 million. NJDEP and the New Jersey Conservation Foundation are working to finalize an offer for NJDEP Green Acres acquisition that would permanently protect the land from all development.
What you can do
Members of the public can attend meetings of the Evesham Township Council to urge the Council to adopt the proposed zoning amendment to bring this parcel into alignment with the Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan’s conservation objectives. This step is both prudent and forward-looking—it protects the Township’s environmental resources while preserving flexibility for Green Acres to complete its negotiations at fair market value. Find meeting details on the Evesham Township website.
Background Information
Black Run Preserve in Evesham Township is a critical headwater area for the southwest branch of the Rancocas Creek. The Rancocas’ 360 square mile watershed includes about one-third of the land area in Burlington County and is key to the health of the larger Delaware River estuary.
Pinelands Preservation Alliance has been an advocate for ongoing protection of the Black Run Preserve and was a founding organization for the Friends of Black Run Preserve. Today, the preserve is not only important for water supply protection and habitat to unique Pinelands plants and animals, but it has become one of southern New Jersey’s most popular destinations for hiking, wildlife observation and mountain biking.
Although the Preserve is protected from development, a large swath of land around it is not. Changes to protect the area around the Black Run preserve have been nearly finished since at least 2015. The Commission and Medford Township adopted zoning changes for Medford many years ago. The Commission then sat on the Evesham changes, despite being already fully drafted by the Commission’s planning staff.
The first iteration of a designation change was proposed at the April 28, 2023 meeting of the Pinelands Commission’s CMP Policy & Implementation Committee (you can view the Black Run Proposal discussion recording on YouTube or view the slides in the meeting minutes). This plan would have piloted an off-site clustering idea, that would allow the landowner to build a similar number of units that would be clustered in one corner of the development. An April 2023 presentation by Commission staff described that the reasoning behind this concept was to “encourage clustering/transfer of all residential development potential in Evesham’s new and existing Forest Area to a designated development area in the RDA outside the Black Run watershed”.
Although a proposal had been projected to be made by the fall of 2023, progress on the Black Run amendment had been held up by delays in the Kirkwood-Cohansey Aquifer protection amendments—staff were too busy making changes to the aquifer protections, so the Black Run was put on the backburner. This plan also met significant pushback from nearby residents who did not want to have such dense development in their backyard. Public comments during many Pinelands Commission meetings were dominated by Evesham residents voicing their displeasure with this compromise. The plan was ultimately rendered impractical given the need for public sewer service that Voorhees township was no longer able to provide. Given the confluence of these factors, the Pinelands Commission dropped the off-site clustering idea in favor of the current proposal to redesignate the area to Forest Area.
After the off-site clustering idea failed to advance, Pinelands Commission staff began working on a different plan to down-zone the area, limiting how much construction would be possible by changing the Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP) designation from Rural Development Area to Forest Area. Despite reassurances from the Pinelands Commission, protections for the forests surrounding the Black Run Preserve were stalled for months. Advocates were lead to believe that the long-awaited CMP amendment would advance after a December 2024 meeting, but months later, nothing has been finalized. The delays stemmed from the Commission’s “packaging” of unrelated rule changes—slowing urgent protections for Black Run.
The Pinelands Commission finally voted to propose the package of CMP Amendments that included the Black Run protections in April 2025 (4/11/2025), then published in the New Jersey register on 6/16/2025, kicking off a 60-day public comment period and hearing. Public comments were overwhelmingly positive and supportive of the proposed rules changes. On October 10, 2025, the full Pinelands Commission voted to approve the re-zoning.
Meanwhile, an application for development has been underway at the Pinelands Commission since November 2024 to assess the development potential of the property. However, the owner of the land has made clear their intention to preserve the land. Groundwork completed for this application has informed an appraisal from the NJDEP Green Acres program to prepare an offer for permanent preservation instead of development. An offer that combines funds from NJDEP Green Acres, Burlington County, the Pinelands Commission, and nonprofits is currently in progress.
Since a “Date of Value” has been established for an appraisal, that valuation remains valid throughout the negotiation process, even if the zoning changes in the meantime. In other words, changing the zoning now will not jeopardize the ongoing Green Acres appraisal or reduce the compensation due to the landowner. The valuation already reflects the highest likely value the property could command.
For that reason, the zoning change represents a clear win for conservation. It would strengthen local environmental protections and ensure that, if for any reason the preservation deal falls through, the land remains safeguarded from inappropriate or intensified development in the future.
Pinelands Alliance is urging Evesham Township leaders to adopt the proposed zoning amendment to bring this parcel into alignment with the Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan’s conservation objectives. This step is both prudent and forward-looking—it protects the Township’s environmental resources while preserving flexibility for Green Acres to complete its negotiations at fair market value.
The blue outlines show the lots covering 778 acres, part of which is proposed for development by Devel LLC of Voorhees. The northernmost part of the property contains wetlands. If it can get the necessary approvals, the developer plans 270 single-family homes on the southern part of the land.
Timeline:
- 2015: Zoning changes to protect areas around the Black Run Preserve were nearly complete; Medford Township adopted them, but the Evesham portion stalled despite being fully drafted.
- April 28, 2023: The Pinelands Commission’s CMP Policy & Implementation Committee discussed a plan to allow off-site clustering of development to protect the Black Run watershed.
- Fall 2023: The Black Run amendment was expected to move forward, but delays with aquifer protection rules and public opposition derailed the plan.
- Late 2023–Early 2024: The off-site clustering concept was dropped due to community pushback and the loss of sewer access from Voorhees, prompting a shift to a new plan to redesignate the land as Forest Area.
- November 2024: Developer Devel LLC submitted an application to the Pinelands Commission to build 270 homes on adjacent forested land.
- December 2024: Advocates were led to believe the CMP amendment would move forward after a Commission meeting, but no action followed.
- April 11, 2025: The Commission finally voted to propose a package of CMP Amendments, including Black Run protections.
- June 16, 2025: The proposed CMP amendments were published in the NJ Register, starting a 60-day public comment period.
- October 10, 2025: The full Pinelands Commission voted to adopt Pinelands CMP amendments that will redesignate the area.
- October 31, 2025: The Pinelands Commission voted to commit $3 million from the Pinelands Conservation Fund to a potential deal for permanent preservation of the property.
- November 12, 2025: Burlington County Commissioners voted to commit up to $5 million to a potential deal for permanent preservation of the property.
Related Articles
June 16, 2025 article by www.70and73.com
Follow the saga through our past blog posts:
