As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
The production principally for sale to others of plants and
animals or their products, including but not limited to forage and
sod crops; grain and feed crops; dairy animals and dairy products;
livestock, including beef cattle, poultry, sheep, swine, horses, ponies,
mules and goats and the breeding and grazing of such animals; bees
and apiary products; fruits of all kinds, including grapes, nuts and
berries; vegetables, nursery, floral, ornamental and greenhouse products.
An area of land of single or multiple contiguous or noncontiguous
parcels, which is actively devoted to agricultural or horticultural
use, including but not limited to croplands, pasture, idle or fallow
lands, woodlands, wetlands, farm ponds, farm roads and certain farm
buildings and other enclosures related to agricultural pursuits.
The production principally for home use or consumption of
plants, animals or their products and for sale to others where such
sales are incidental, including but not limited to gardening, fruit
production and poultry and livestock products for household use only.
In accordance with the purposes and preambles set forth herein,
the following farming activities shall be deemed established as acceptable,
recognized and entitled to encouragement and protection as the collective
embodiment of the right to farm; subject in all cases, however, to
any supervising applicable federal, state or county laws or regulations
respecting the public health, safety or otherwise:
A.Â
Produce agricultural and horticultural crops, trees and forest products,
livestock, poultry and other such related commodities, except that
poultry farms are prohibited on less than 50 acres, and commercial
piggeries are prohibited absolutely in all zone districts within the
Township of Robbinsville.
B.Â
Process and package the agricultural output of the commercial farm.
C.Â
Provide for the wholesale and retail marketing, including u-pick
marketing and sales, of the agricultural output of the commercial
farm and related products that contribute to farm income, including
the construction of building and parking areas in conformance with
applicable municipal standards.
D.Â
Replenish soil nutrients, including but not limited to the spreading
of manure and applying chemical and organic fertilizers.
E.Â
Use federally approved products, in accordance with labeled instructions,
as recommended by the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station and
the United States Environmental Protection Agency for the control
of pests, predators, vermin, diseases affecting plants and livestock
and for the control of weed infestation.
F.Â
Clear woodlands using open-burning and other accepted techniques
and install and maintain vegetative and terrain alterations and other
physical facilities for water and soil conservation and surface water
control in wetland areas. In the event that open-burning techniques
are used, the farmer proposing to use the same must apply for and
procure any and all applicable state, county, local or federal permits
required.
G.Â
Use irrigation pumps and equipment and undertake aerial and ground
seeding and spraying, using tractors and other necessary equipment.
H.Â
Hire and utilize necessary farm labor.
I.Â
Construct fences.
J.Â
Transport large, slow-moving equipment over roads within the Township.
K.Â
Conduct farming activities on holidays and Sundays, as well as weekdays,
in the evening and during the day, notwithstanding the production
thereby of normal but unavoidable noise, dust, odors and fumes caused
by such necessary activities when conducted in accordance with recognized
agricultural practices.
L.Â
Accessory uses: buildings or uses incidental to farms, such as barns
and packing, grading and storage buildings for produce raised on the
premises, except that no commercial processing of produce (such as
cooking, freezing or canning) shall be permitted; buildings for keeping
of poultry and permitted livestock; garages for the keeping of equipment
and trucks used in farm operations; and a roadside produce sale stand,
provided that all of the produce offered for sale is grown on the
property, that the stand is not furnished with permanent heating facilities,
that the floor area of the stand does not exceed 120 square feet,
that the stand is set back from all street rights-of-way and property
lines at least 30 feet and that sufficient on-site off-street parking
is provided.
In the event that a farmer proposes to alter, divert, dam, widen, deepen, narrow or in any way affect a stream pond or lake, in connection with the uses described in Subsection G of § 142-108, for drainage purposes or otherwise, or proposes in any way to change a watercourse from its existing state, he/she must apply for and obtain any and all state, county, local or federal permits required.
[Amended 7-20-2022 by Ord. No. 2022-27]
For the purpose of giving due notice of nearby farming uses
to proposed new residential areas adjacent to unimproved land then
being commercially farmed or suitable therefor, the Land Use Board
shall require an applicant for an adjacent major or minor subdivision,
as a condition of approval of such application, to include a provision
in each and every contract for and deed conveying all or any portion
of the lands thereby subdivided, as well as on-file final subdivision
maps, the following record notice to and waiver by grantees of such
present or future proximate farming uses, which such provision shall
be made to run with the land:
|
Grantee hereby acknowledges notice that there are presently
or may, in the future, be farm uses adjacent to the above-described
premises from which may emanate noise, odors, dust and fumes associated
with lawful agricultural practices permitted under applicable right
to farm laws, regulations and ordinances, and, by acceptance of this
conveyance, grantee does hereby waive objection to such activities.
|
