Brick pursuing Beaton tract purchase again BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer BRICK TOWNSHIP - The pristine Beaton property, once targeted for development, may yet end up as open space. The township is in "active negotiations" with the Beaton family, council President Stephen C. Acropolis said recently. "We are actively pursing this piece of property again," he said. "And hopefully we will have partners, the county, the Trust for Public Lands." The Beaton family came before the Planning Board in early 2005 with an application to subdivide the property into seven lots - six for single-family luxury homes and one lot for a detention basin. The land is zoned to hold 19 lots. The council had previously discussed purchasing the property as open space, after neighbors in the area pleaded with officials to save the land from development. The 9-acre tract of cedars and pines sits on a peninsula that extends from Beverly Beach Road into the Manasquan River. It is the last undeveloped piece of land in Brick on the river. Negotiations for the property several years ago stalled, because of rising real estate values. The property is home to the blue heron, the great white heron, the yellow-crowned night heron, countless other species of birds, harbor seals and otters. Bald eagles have even been seen flying on the site, Acropolis said. "That's what makes this such a pristine piece of property," he said. "The state has come in and agreed with us that it's environmentally sensitive. I want the township to own this." Former Township Administrator Scott R. MacFadden said two years ago the township would consider the eminent domain process if necessary, because the site was such a high priority to acquire.