[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township of Old
Bridge 11-11-2001 by Ord. No. 56-01. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
The right to farm all land is hereby recognized to exist as a natural
right, subject to all relevant federal or state statutes or rules and regulations,
including but not limited to the New Jersey Health Code, applicable regulations
of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the United States
Environmental Protection Agency, all as amended. The right to farm shall be
exercised with appropriate consideration given to the Old Bridge Township
Zoning Ordinance.
The right to farm should be read to include the use of large irrigation
pumps and equipment, aerial and ground seeding and spraying, large tractors,
and numerous farm laborers; the application of chemical fertilizers and products
for either the control and elimination of insects, pests, weeds, fungus and
other substances injurious to the farming process or for the purpose of producing
from the land agricultural products, such as vegetable, grains, hay, fruits,
fibers, potatoes, wood, trees, plants, shrubs, flowers and seeds. This right
to farm shall also include the right to use land for grazing by animals, subject
to the restrictions contained elsewhere in this chapter for raising livestock.
The right to farm shall not include any agricultural practice which poses
a direct threat to public health and safety.
The foregoing uses and activities are 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
practice, as the same may be determined and promulgated, from time to time,
by the Rutgers University School of Agriculture.
It is expressly found that whatever temporary inconveniences may be
caused to others by such uses and activities so conducted, they are more than
offset by the benefits from farming to the neighborhood and 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 as a source of agricultural products for this and future generations
in Old Bridge Township and the State of New Jersey.
A developer and/or landowner who plans to build or sell a dwelling in
an agricultural area must personally, or through their agent, inform prospective
buyers of the existence of the right to farm ordinance and the protection
it grants to agricultural operations. This notification must be included in
the deed of conveyance and recorded in the Clerk's office.
