[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township of Middle
7-18-1991 by Ord. No. 779-91. Amendments noted where applicable.]
In accordance with 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 supervening applicable
federal, state or county laws or regulations respecting the public health,
safety or otherwise:
A.
Produce agricultural and horticultural crops, trees and
forest products, livestock, poultry and other related commodities.
B.
Process and package the agricultural output of the commercial
farm.
C.
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 buildings and parking areas in conformance with the applicable municipal
standards.
D.
Replenish soil nutrients, including but not limited to
the spreading of manure and applying chemical and organic fertilizers.
E.
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 control of pests,
predators, varmints, diseases affecting plants and livestock and for the control
of weed infestation.
F.
Clear woodlands using permitted 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 accordance with approved soil and water
conservation management plans.
G.
Use irrigation pumps and equipment and undertake aerial
and ground seeding and spraying, using airplanes, tractors and other necessary
equipment.
H.
Hire and utilize necessary farm labor.
I.
Construct fences.
J.
Transport large, slow-moving equipment over roads within
the Township of Middle.
K.
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.
For the purpose of giving due notice of nearby farming uses to proposed
new residential areas adjacent to land then being commercially farmed or suitable
therefor, the Planning 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:
|
"The 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. The grantee further acknowledges that the Township of Middle, in
its adopted Right-to-Farm Ordinance, has deemed established as acceptable
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. The 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, the grantee
does hereby waive objection to such activities."
|
For purposes of interpretation of this chapter, the following definitions
shall apply:
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, goats and fur-bearing
animals, the breeding and grazing of such animals, bees and apiary products,
fish and aquaculture products, fruits of all kinds, including grapes, nuts
and berries and vegetables, nursery, floral ornamental and greenhouse products.
A lot of at least five acres, excluding a dwelling unit, 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.
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 and livestock boarding and breeding.
