[Amended by Ord. No. 96-3]
A. Findings.
(1) The Township Council recognizes the benefits to society
in general, the community and its neighborhoods, from horticulture,
commercial and home agriculture and animal husbandry, hereafter called
farming, by the preservation of open space and the preservation of
the aesthetics of the rural countryside and the supplying of present
and future generations with the bounties resulting from such activities;
and
(2) The Township Council has determined that such horticultural,
agricultural and animal husbandry uses are necessary to humankind
and that the right to carry on such pursuits should be protected for
the benefit of the residents of the Township of Springfield; and
(3) The Township Council finds and determines that farmers
must be secure in their ability to earn a livelihood and to utilize
acceptable, necessary and recognized farming procedure and techniques;
and
(4) The Township Council finds and determines that the
right to farm all land is a natural right and is hereby ordained to
exist as a permitted use everywhere in the Township, regardless of
zoning designations and regardless of whether specified as permitted
uses therein.
B. Purpose. It is the intent of this subsection to define
and prescribe acceptable, necessary and recognized farming practices
herein encouraged, established and preserved.
C. Definitions. For the purposes of interpretation of
this subsection, the following definitions shall apply:
COMMERCIAL AGRICULTURE
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; the breeding and grazing of such animals; bees and
apiary products; fruits of all kinds, including grapes, nuts and berries;
vegetables; and nursery, floral, ornamental and greenhouse products.
FARM
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, cropland, pasture, idle or fallow
land, woodland, wetlands, farm ponds, farm roads and certain farm
buildings and other enclosures related to agricultural pursuits.
HOME AGRICULTURE
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.
D. “Right to farm” activities protected.
In accordance with the purposes and findings 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 supervening applicable federal, state or county laws
or regulations respecting the public health, safety or otherwise:
(1) Production of agricultural and horticultural crops,
trees and forest products, livestock, poultry and other related commodities.
(2) Processing and packaging of the agricultural output
of the commercial farm.
(3) Providing 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 Township standards.
(4) Replenishing soil nutrients, including, but not limited
to, the spreading of manure and applying chemical and organic fertilizers.
(5) Using federally approved products, in accordance with
labeled instructions, as recommended by the New Jersey Agricultural
Experiment Station and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for
the control of pests, predators, varmints and diseases affecting plants
and livestock, and for the control of weed infestation.
(6) Clearing woodlands by using open burning and other
accepted techniques, and installing and maintaining vegetative and
terrain alternations and other physical facilities for water and soil
conservation and surface water control in wetland areas.
(7) Using irrigation pumps and equipment and undertaking
aerial and ground seeding and spraying, using tractors and other necessary
equipment.
(8) Hiring and utilizing necessary farm labor.
(10)
Transporting large, slow-moving equipment over
roads within the Township.
(11)
Conducting 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.
E. Notice of farm use. For the purpose of giving due
notice of nearby farming uses to proposed new residential areas adjacent
to unimproved land being commercially farmed, or suitable therefor,
the Land Development 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
filed 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:
[Amended 3-13-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-01]
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“Grantee hereby acknowledges notice that
there are presently, or may in the future be, farm uses adjacent or
in close proximity to the above described premises. Grantee further
acknowledges that the Township of Springfield, in its adopted “Right
to Farm” ordinance, has deemed established as acceptable, recognized
and entitled to encouragement and protection, farm activities which
may result in the emanation of noise, odors, dust and fumes caused
by such necessary activities when conducted in accordance with recognized
agricultural practices. Such activities include, but are not limited
to, the production and processing of agricultural and horticultural
crops and livestock, aerial and ground spraying, the spreading of
manure and chemical and organic fertilizers, and the wholesale and
retail marketing of agricultural and related products. Grantee further
acknowledges that such activities may occur on holidays, weekends
and at all times of the day, including early morning, evening and
nighttime hours. By acceptance of this conveyance Grantee does hereby
waive objection to such activities.”
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