Local Attorney Behind New Push for Bancroft Public Purchase

Peter Fontaine, an attorney and Haddonfield resident, is the driving force behind a new public purchase plan for most of the Bancroft property, two borough commissioners said Thursday.

Fontaine is a former chairman of the Camden County Open Space Advisory Committee, which has preserved more than 2,000 acres of farmland and open space, according to his biography on the Cozen O’Connor law-firm website, where he works. 

He is also credited with spearheading three successful open-space public questions since 1998 that created stable funding for preserving open spaces, farms, historic sites and recreational areas in Camden County.

It was Fontaine who reached out to the borough’s three commissioners with a plan to once again resurrect the torturous gauntlet of a public purchase of Bancroft, an effort that has sunk the fortunes of public officials for more than a decade.

“We were surprised by it,” said Commissioner John Moscatelli. “Pete met with each of us separately a few week ago.”

Moscatelli was opposed to a $12.5 million Bancroft public purchase referendum in January from the borough school board. He said he is “cautiously optimistic” about Fontaine’s proposal because he thinks the appraisal for Bancroft will come in considerably less than a $15 million appraisal the school board received last year.

Moscatelli, the director of public works, and Commissioner Neal Rochford, the director of public safety who also oversees economic development in the borough, both say a new deal for Bancroft could be considerably less.

“When we look at all the different pots of money put together, the agreement could pay for itself without raising taxes,” Rochford said Thursday. “But it’s very premature to say what if any funds Haddonfield will need to participate in this.”

The New Jersey Conservation Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving open space, submitted and application to the county for funds to preserve 13 of Bancroft’s 19 acres for open space. The land is on the east side of Hopkins Lane adjacent to Pennypacker Park near the Cooper River and the border with Cherry Hill. Fontaine helped coordinate the effort, Rochford and Moscatelli said.

Because of a new appraisal for the Woodcrest Country Club in Cherry Hill and because the new Bancroft purchase involves less land than the January referendum, Moscatelli said he thinks it will cost considerably less than $12.5 million in bonds to support a total purchase price then of $16 million, which included $3.5 million of grants.

Most of the money for the new deal could come from the Camden County Open Space Tax Fund, Rochford said; Haddonfield residents contribute to it annually, and it would be good to get something back, he noted. 

Haddonfield was also awarded state Green Acres funds and other grants during the failed bond referendum that may still be available, as well as over $500,000 in the borough’s open-space tax fund, Rochford added.

CORRECTION: The New Jersey Conservation Foundation has applied to Camden County for funds to purchase 13 acres of the Bancroft campus on Kings Highway East. A previous version of this article incorrectly identified the group applying for the open-space preservation grants.