[Amended 5-26-2020 by Ord. No. O-20-12]
The provisions of any land use ordinance to
the contrary notwithstanding, right to farm all land is hereby recognized
to exist as a natural right and is also hereby a permitted use everywhere
in the Township of Freehold subject only to Township Health and Sanitary
Codes. The right to farm includes, but is not limited to, the use
of irrigation pumps and equipment, aerial and ground seeding and spraying,
tractors, farm laborers and the application of chemical fertilizers,
insecticides and herbicides as well as other mechanized equipment
and modern procedures; all for the purpose of producing from the land
agricultural products such as vegetables, grains, hay, fruits, fibers,
wood, trees, plants, shrubs, flowers and seeds, as well as the propagation
and maintenance of horses, cows and other grazing stock, and to otherwise
engage in any and all activities set forth in the New Jersey Right
to Farm Act and attendant regulations.
The foregoing uses and activities included in
the right to farm, when reasonable and necessary for the particular
farming, livestock or fowl production, and when conducted in accordance
with generally accepted agricultural practices, may occur on holidays,
Sundays and weekdays, at night and in the day, and the reasonable
and unusual noise, odors, dust and fumes that are caused by them are
also specifically permitted as part of the exercise of this right.
It is expressly found that whatever legal nuisance may be caused to
others by such uses and activities so conducted is more than offset
by the benefits from farming to the neighborhood, community, and to
society in general, by the preservation of open space, the beauty
of the countryside and clean air and by the preservation and continuance
of farming operations in Freehold Township and in New Jersey as a
source of agricultural products for this and future generations. This
statement is one of general intent and meant to express a basic philosophy
by which all other ordinances are to be considered and interpreted.