The title of this article shall be the "Town of Guilford Right
to Farm Ordinance."
This article is enacted pursuant to the powers conferred upon
by Section 7-148(c)(7)(E) and in furtherance of the goals of Section
19a-341 of the Connecticut General Statutes. The purpose of this article
is to protect agricultural land and to encourage agricultural operations
and the sale of local farm products within the Town, consistent with
the Town's heritage and for the benefit of the Town's residents,
by limiting the circumstances in which agricultural operations can
be considered a nuisance.
The following definitions shall apply in the interpretation
and enforcement of this article:
AGRICULTURE or AGRICULTURAL OPERATION or FARMING OPERATION
The cultivation of the soil, dairying, forestry, raising
or harvesting any agricultural or horticultural commodity, including
the raising, shearing, feeding, caring for, training and management
of livestock, including horses, bees, poultry, fur-bearing animals
and wildlife, and the raising or harvesting of oysters, clams, mussels,
other molluscan shellfish or fish; the operation, management, conservation,
improvement or maintenance of a farm and its buildings, tools and
equipment, or salvaging timber or cleared land of brush or other debris
left by a storm, as an incident to farming operations; the production
or harvesting of maple syrup or maple sugar, or any agricultural commodity,
including lumber, as an incident to ordinary farming, or the harvesting
of mushrooms, the hatching of poultry, or the construction, operation
or maintenance of ditches, canals, reservoirs or waterways used primarily
for farming purposes; handling, planting, drying, packing, packaging,
processing, freezing, grading, storing or delivering to storage or
to market, or to a carrier for transportation to market, or for direct
sale, any agricultural or horticultural commodity as an incident to
farming operations or, in the case of fruits and vegetables, as an
incident to the preparation of such fruits or vegetables for market
or for direct sale.
FARM
That portion of each tract of land that is used or was historically
used for agricultural or farming operations. In conformance with Section
1-1q of the Connecticut General Statutes, the term "farm" also includes
farm buildings and accessory buildings thereto, nurseries, orchards,
ranges, greenhouses, hoophouses and other temporary structures or
other structures used primarily for the raising and, as an incident
to ordinary farming operations, the sale of agricultural or horticultural
commodities.