Bergen County is planning to buy a rugged, 32½-acre plot of land that straddles Mahwah and Oakland to preserve as a park.

The $700,000 purchase of the parcel - known as the Phillips property - would increase the amount of parkland the county owns in the Ramapo Mountains.

The land is next to Camp Glen Gray, the 750 wooded acres the county bought in 2002 for $5.1 million. It is also near Camp Todd, a 73-acre parcel that the county, state and non-profit groups bought for $8 million this year.

"It's the idea of keeping lots in their natural state," said Adam Strobel, director of the county Division of Open Space Preservation. "There is always the possibility they could [be developed] if they were out on the market."

The Phillips property is undeveloped except for a small cabin and a few paths created over the years by hikers, Strobel said. The land is full of mostly dense forest amid a steep, rocky landscape.

Oakland Mayor John Szabo said the impending purchase would have a limited effect on the borough's tax rolls.

"Any purchase in the Highlands is a good thing," Szabo said. "It appears that it would complete the holdings up there.

"It would have limited development value," he said of the plot. "We would rather see the development devoted somewhere else. In the meantime, I don't want to see development along the border."

The money for the Phillips purchase would come from the county's Open Space Trust Fund. Strobel said the county will seek money from the state Green Acres program.

An open space advisory committee unanimously approved the purchase last week, he said.

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