Pushing and Searching

RednekF350

Piney
Feb 20, 2004
4,944
3,080
Pestletown, N.J.
We were in the woods near Coyle Field today looking for a property stone and there really was no way we were going to find it. The area was full of pine needles with nothing sticking up out of the ground at all. Jessica makes a lucky stab at the ground and .
The stone is located on a corner of the Spring Hill Tract. The original map of the tract was made by S. H. Shreve in July of 1880 and the stone is part of Tract 2 from that survey. Tract 2 consists of 1081.50 acres with the complete tract being 3210.14 acres. The state acquired the Spring Hill Tract from Lawrence E. Bathgate II as a trustee for many other individuals. The purchase price was $1,365,474.76.

Nice find Jess ! Outstanding trowel work Guy ! Good thing she brought you along.
:)
 
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RednekF350

Piney
Feb 20, 2004
4,944
3,080
Pestletown, N.J.
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First, let it be known that this may be the most hijacked thread of all time. We have gone from Guy pushing a Super Duty with no fuel, to stones, to NJ Geo monuments, to coyotes, to GPS Theory and Applications 101 and back to finding stones.

Well, let the hijack continue.

Here are a few photos (with a filter) from today from a nearly 4 mile mile stroll around the southerly shoreline of Atsion Lake and along the old Raritan Ave. rail bed with the dogs. The old rail line ran from downtown Atco, through the vicinity of the gate area at the Atsion Rec Area and then across 206 in the not too distant past.

We had to cut away from the lake early on because of the partially thawed ice and the dogs' inquisitiveness. Junior and Murphy happily tail-wagged their way along the rail bed with Junior scouting cautiously just slightly ahead. View attachment 10281 View attachment 10282
 
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Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,602
8,180
It is so interesting that the ties are still there. Every time I go there I think about that.
 
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manumuskin

Piney
Jul 20, 2003
8,552
2,465
59
millville nj
www.youtube.com
I remember a few lucky stabs.One you made out just north of Calico.I remember also looking for the Rider stones and I made one into a clump of moss lifted out of the ground by a tree and the stone was wedged between the crotch of the two trunks in the moss clump.
 

manumuskin

Piney
Jul 20, 2003
8,552
2,465
59
millville nj
www.youtube.com
I have found quite a few galvanized buckets in the woods and several recently.I wonder if they were originally monument holders? Most are rusted through but several were whole.And I though galvanized didn't rust:)
 

1Jerseydevil

Explorer
Feb 14, 2009
567
214
They kept saying, if it's off the tax rolls, then we wouldn't know. So then, right in front of me as I'm standing there...They called the GREEN ACRES program and asked them if it belongs to them! They said no. I kid you not!

If I found out as Mayor, I'd tell them to find out out who the hell owns it....PRONTO! It should not matter if it's taxable or not, they need to know, otherwise, how would they know! :p
So the township says they have no record and it must be off the tax roll. Green acres certainly knows they don't own it so that means Haines or some other large land owner isn't or doesn't have to pay taxes? UNBELIEVABLE!! What's the secret to getting your property off the tax roll and yet still own the property?
 

Pinesbucks

Explorer
Apr 15, 2013
295
111
I believe Bob may be referencing land around the bombing range that was redrawn a few years ago. I could be wrong. I did some research into that and I tried going to bass river looking for information what a mess. I had better luck dealing with burliington county.
 

lj762

Explorer
Feb 18, 2017
358
227
Bass River State Forest
Don't be too hard on the township clerks. They inherited a huge mess - part of the Pinelands legacy, I guess. I doubt they could straighten this out if they had 10 times the resources. Green Acres, too - I don't think they have access to much more data than you and me.

There are certainly properties whose ownership can't be determined. If they aren't in the MOD-IV database, or are in the database with no owner, then yes they are probably not being taxed.

On the other hand, as I asked about in another thread, I believe there are properties in the database that have been taxed for years, but can't be found on any map and possibly don't exist. I found 2 of these 'imaginary' parcels that are being foreclosed on. Think about it: foreclosed for non-payment of taxes on a non-existing parcel. If true. Bring in the lawyers.

There is also a block (Bass River Twp block 31) that contains 6 or 8 duplicate lot numbers. This really confuses sites like njparcels.com. I could be missing something, but it seems to me that only one of each pair could be taxed.
 

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,153
4,258
Pines; Bamber area
So the township says they have no record and it must be off the tax roll. Green acres certainly knows they don't own it so that means Haines or some other large land owner isn't or doesn't have to pay taxes? UNBELIEVABLE!! What's the secret to getting your property off the tax roll and yet still own the property?

I finally found out by going through a back door. The adjacent lot is owned by a land conservation entity, and they helped me out. To show how complicated this is, I've included a snip from their email below. I'd rather not make it publicly known who owns it (hence the XXX below), if you want to know PM me.

"The property is privately owned. It’s currently owned by XXXX, which is a part of XXX.

Attached is the tax map, and two deeds that show the ownership of the property (Note: all publicly available docs. pulled from the county records). It’s tract #2 on the first, very long deed.

It’s understandable why the township & state folks had some trouble with this one. Their slow response was likely because they were initially stuck as to who owns this property. It’s—at least initially—not a straightforward question! And, unfortunately, that’s an error on our survey, showing that it’s state-owned. The deed book & page listed for Lot XX on the survey is also incorrect.

Fortunately (or unfortunately), we’ve worked in some rural areas in NJ where property ownership is at best convoluted and, at worst, unknown. Our staff is getting used to these kinds of difficult questions.

In this case, the property was mainly owned by XXX. (with two other entities involved—XXX and XXX—both on the second deed), then subject to foreclosure and Sheriff’s sale. Lot XX was part of a very large assemblage of lots and acreage. When that many lots are involved, the property tax record doesn’t list all the individual lots.

Please see the attached tax record for Bl. XXX, L. 11—Under addtl. lots, there’s a note that says in capital letters: “MANY SEE FILE”. That reference to “many” includes Lot XX.

Such type of note on the tax record usually means there’s some kind of paper record that lists all the lots in the County Clerk’s office. Absent a title search, it’s very hard to get access to those records. Best anyone can do is pull the deed from the public website (if it’s available), which in this case confirmed ownership of that lot and also the lot we’re interested in, Lot XX"
 

lj762

Explorer
Feb 18, 2017
358
227
Bass River State Forest
I've dealt with the "Additional Lots" field, but never came across "Many see file". I think if I did, I would probably give up at that point. It's good to know that there is at least one organization out there that has the know-how and persistence to solve these mysteries.
 

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,153
4,258
Pines; Bamber area
I never knew about that njparcels.com, so that is another source for my explorations. Thanks.

But, true to form, this lot is not listed in there either.
 

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,602
8,180
I was told that after January 15 they could start. I believe that was the date.
 

RednekF350

Piney
Feb 20, 2004
4,944
3,080
Pestletown, N.J.
Hard to believe they actually started the burn today with this wind. The neighborhood is starting to look a little more than hazy. :eek:
Even more concerning is that the wind is out of the south and blowing toward my house which is 80’ off the woods line.
 
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RednekF350

Piney
Feb 20, 2004
4,944
3,080
Pestletown, N.J.

manumuskin

Piney
Jul 20, 2003
8,552
2,465
59
millville nj
www.youtube.com
Well if the state burns your house down the mansion is yours! But then again who would want to leave the Barrens for Princeton? I"ve been to both and there is no contest. Well Princeton did have some real nice scenery,but it was all off limits to me:)
 
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