In 2021, the Borough finalized plans to merge with the adjacent Borough of Pine Hill, dissolving the Pine Valley borough government completely by the end of 2021. Pine Hill gained $20 million in taxable property and the famed golf club.[19] The merger took effect on January 1, 2022; the merger of the two municipalities was the first in the state since Princeton was formed in 2013 from the former Princeton Borough and Princeton Township, New Jersey.[20]
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough had a total area of 0.97 square miles (2.51 km2), including 0.96 square miles (2.47 km2) of land and 0.02 square miles (0.04 km2) of water (1.55%).[1][2]
Of the 4 households, 50.0% had children under the age of 18; 75.0% were married couples living together; 0.0% had a female householder with no husband present and 0.0% were non-families. Of all households, 0.0% were made up of individuals and 0.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.00 and the average family size was 3.00.[15]
16.7% of the population were under the age of 18, 16.7% from 18 to 24, 33.3% from 25 to 44, 33.3% from 45 to 64, and 0.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42.5 years. For every 100 females, the population had 300.0 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 233.3 males.[15]
As of the 2010 Census, the borough had the second smallest population in the state, ahead of only Tavistock, which had a population of five.[29]
2000 census
As of the 2000 United States census[12] there were 20 people, 8 households, and 7 families residing in the borough. The population density was 21.0 inhabitants per square mile (8.1/km2). There were 21 housing units at an average density of 22.1 per square mile (8.5/km2). The racial makeup of the borough was 100.00% White.[27][28]
As of the 2000 Census, the borough was one of four municipalities with fewer than 50 residents among the 566 in the state, and its population of 20 was behind only Teterboro, where census officials counted 18 residents.[30]
There were eight households, out of which 25.0% had children under the age of eighteen living with them, 87.5% were married couples living together, and 12.5% were non-families. 12.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 2.71.[27][28]
In the borough the population was spread out, with 25.0% under the age of 18, 20.0% from 25 to 44, 15.0% from 45 to 64, and 40.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 58 years. For every 100 females, there were 150.0 males. For every 100 women age 18 and over, there were 114.3 men.[27][28]
The median income for a household in the borough was $31,875, and the median income for a family was $65,625. Men had a median income of $36,250 versus $52,500 for women. The per capita income for the borough was $23,981. None of the population and none of the families were below the poverty line.[27][28]
Government
Local government
Pine Valley operated under the Walsh Act form of New Jersey municipal government. The borough was one of 30 municipalities (of the then-565) statewide that used the commission form of government.[31] The governing body consisted of three commissioners, who are elected at-large on a non-partisan basis to four-year terms of office in elections held as part of the May municipal elections. Each commissioner was assigned a specific department to head in addition to their legislative functions and one of the three commissioners was chosen to serve as mayor.[5] Pine Valley has been governed under the Walsh Act, by a three-member commission, since 1942.[32][33]
At the time of the borough's dissolution in 2022, the members of the Pine Valley Board of Commissioners were Mayor Michael B. Kennedy, Kendra L. Clark and Debra M. Kennedy all serving terms of office ending May 17, 2022.[34] The three commissioners had run unopposed in the 2018 May municipal election.[35][36]
The three incumbents—Jane Bromley and husband-and-wife Michael B. Kennedy and Deborah Kennedy—were re-elected in May 2014 to four-year terms of office in an election held entirely by mail to minimize the costs associated with establishing a polling place for the borough's 14 voters.[37]
Camden County is governed by a Board of County Commissioners composed of seven members chosen at-large in partisan elections for three-year terms on a staggered basis by the residents of the county, with either two or three seats up for election each year as part of the November general election. At a reorganization meeting held in January after each election, the newly constituted Board of Commissioners selects one member to serve as Director and another as Deputy Director, each serving a one-year term in that role.[49] As of 2024[update], Camden County's Commissioners are:
Commissioner Director Louis Cappelli Jr. (D, Collingswood, 2026),[50]
Commissioner Deputy Director Edward T. McDonnell (D, Pennsauken Township, 2025),[51]
Virginia Ruiz Betteridge (D, Runnemede, 2025),[52]
Almar Dyer (D, Pennsauken Township, 2024),[53]
Melinda Kane (D, Cherry Hill, 2024),[54]
Jeffrey L. Nash (D, Winslow Township, 2024),[55] and
Jonathan L. Young Sr. (D, Berlin Township, 2026).[56][49][57][58][59]
As of March 2011, there were a total of fifteen registered voters in Pine Valley, of which three (20.0%) were registered as Democrats, ten (66.7%) as Republicans and two (13.3%) as Unaffiliated. There were no voters registered to other parties.[67]
In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 100.0% of the vote (nine cast), ahead of Democrat Barbara Buono and other candidates who received no votes, among the nine ballots cast by the borough's thirteen registered voters, for a turnout of 69.2%.[68][69] In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 72.7% of the vote (8 ballots cast), ahead of both Independent Chris Daggett with 18.2% (two votes) and Democrat Jon Corzine with no votes, with eleven ballots cast among the borough's fourteen registered voters, yielding a 78.6% turnout.[70]
As an independent municipality, Pine Valley had a non-operating school district,[71] Pine Valley Borough School District.[72] At that time, public school students from Pine Valley attended the Haddonfield Public Schools for pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade as part of a sending/receiving relationship, together with students from Haddonfield and Tavistock.[5] As of the 2018–19 school year, the district, comprised of five schools, had an enrollment of 2,749 students and 215.2 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.8:1.[73] Schools in the district (with 2018–19 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics[74]) are
Central Elementary School[75] with 419 students in grades K-5,
Elizabeth Haddon Elementary School[76] with 367 students in grades K-5,
J. Fithian Tatem Elementary School[77] with 422 students in grades PreK-5,
Haddonfield Middle School[78] with 659 students in grades 6-8 and
Haddonfield Memorial High School[79] with 869 students in grades 9–12.[80][81]
Transportation
Entrance to Pine Valley
All roads in Pine Valley are privately maintained by the golf course. There is only one public entrance, via Atlantic Avenue from neighboring Pine Hill.
^Riordan, Kevin. "Humble Pine Hill gets ready to welcome the posh Pine Valley Golf Club as two N.J. boroughs become one", The Philadelphia Inquirer, November 3, 2021. Accessed November 16, 2021. "Kennedy said that Pine Valley had sought the consolidation after a nonbinding 2020 referendum voters there approved, 10-0, because it 'has been experiencing some budgetary challenges.' Becoming part of Pine Hill will provide his constituents with “a sustainable municipal government,” said the Pine Valley mayor.... So far, Pine Hill seems to be taking in stride the prospect of gaining a few well-heeled residents, a $20 million tax ratable, and bragging rights to one of the finest golf courses anywhere."
^Strauss, Robert. "Communities; Municipal Madness or 'Creative Localism?'", The New York Times, January 4, 2004. Accessed August 18, 2013. "But for the 20 residents of Pine Valley, the borough that surrounds the golf course, the cute A-frame building is police headquarters, next door to Steiniger Hall, the borough office building, where you can often find Robert Mathers, the clerk of Pine Valley, one of New Jersey's least-populous towns.... Four of them have fewer than 50 souls: Walpack (41) in Sussex County, Teterboro (18) in Bergen County and Pine Valley and Tavistock (24) in Camden County."
^Comengo, Carol. "Medford Lakes, Pine Valley holding elections Tuesday", Courier-Post, May 12, 2014. Accessed October 23, 2014. "In Pine Valley in Camden County, three incumbent commissioners are seeking re-election to four-year terms without opposition — Mayor Michael B. Kennedy; his wife, Deborah Kennedy; and Jane Bromley. Pine Valley, one of the smallest municipalities in the state and best known for its exclusive golf course, does not have a polling place with a voting machine. Instead, voters receive a ballot in the mail and return it to the Camden County Board of Elections to save the expense of running an election for its 14 registered voters."
^Full Biography, Congressman Donald Norcross. Accessed January 3, 2019. "Donald and his wife Andrea live in Camden City and are the proud parents of three grown children and grandparents of two."
