[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee
of the Township of New Hanover as indicated in article histories.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 2-11-1997 by Ord. No. 1997-1]
In accordance with the purposes and preambles
set forth herein,[1] 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,
to:
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
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 the control of pests, predators, varmints, diseases affecting
plants and livestock and for the control of weed infestation.
F.
Clear woodlands using 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.
G.
Use irrigation pumps and equipment and undertake aerial
and ground seeding and spraying, using 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.
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.
[1]
Editor's Note: For the purposes and preambles
referred to herein, contact the Township offices for the complete
text of Ord. No. 1997-1.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. II)]
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 Use
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:
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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 New Hanover, 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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For purposes of interpretation of this article,
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 and goats; the breeding and grazing of such animals; bees and
apiary products; fruits of all kinds, including grapes, nuts and berries;
vegetables; nursery; floral; ornamental and greenhouse products.
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 enclosure 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.
[Adopted 9-14-2016 by Ord. No. 2016-05]
A.
New Hanover
Township recognizes the agricultural and rural nature of this community,
farmland preservation, and its many long-time residents and those
who have moved into our community because of its rural atmosphere.
The Township Committee believes that it is in the best interest of
the Township as a public entity and its citizens, including people
who are considering moving here, to give notice of a policy statement
or express the ideology of a rural code or a "country code" as part
of the philosophy of this Township.
B.
The policy
statement of New Hanover Township with respect to its rural environment
and country living is herein set forth:
(1)
This
document expresses the philosophy of New Hanover Township residents.
The residents of this Township have either been raised here and chosen
to stay or moved here because they enjoy the rural life. This community
has shown a strong commitment to remaining rural by committing a portion
of their tax dollars to farmland preservation, forgoing services taken
for granted in suburban and city areas, and traveling the extra distance
for necessities.
(2)
Many
residents have moved to this area because the rural atmosphere of
their former hometown has been lost to development. Others may be
rural newcomers escaping the suburbs and cities. These residents must
remember not to expect perfectly paved roads, water and sewer service,
a twenty-four-hour local police department, municipal trash pickup,
and other "luxuries." Residents in a rural community will endure the
slow-moving farm machinery on the road, early morning tractor noise,
and perhaps unpleasant odors of natural fertilizers for the sake of
maintaining the country life.
(3)
If you
are considering this area as you home, please remember that the snowplow
may not come as often as you may feel necessary; the supermarket will
be a twenty-minute ride away. The New Jersey State Police have been
providing us with excellent support service.
(4)
You
will sometimes have to pay a price to remain a rural community residential
development, and farmland-assessed properties do not provide the rateables
of commercial development. Farmland properties provide a community
with open space; the entire municipality benefits from this acreage
that will have no impact on the local school district. Property owners
that sell development rights pursuant to the Farmland Preservation
Act insure that farming will continue in New Jersey. The residential
development must be controlled in consideration of the services it
demands. New homes, new roads and new taxes are a strain on the residents
on New Jersey. The increased traffic through New Hanover Township
that has been a result of development in surrounding communities has
put pressure on local residents by compelling us to improve these
roads for the sake of the safety of all citizens.
(5)
Residents
that live within the Township of New Hanover take pride in hosting
the Mega Base MDL (McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst), with a sense of security
when we hear the planes overhead and pride in the sounds of artillery
from the brave men and women in training exercises, and at peace while
being serenaded to sleep by the distant sound of the bugle playing
Taps. These are sounds of freedom and security to all who reside in
New Hanover Township and call this "country community" home.
(6)
It is
with this ideology that the Township Committee of New Hanover Township
does hereby adopt this code as a notice to all present citizens and
future citizens of this community that New Hanover Township officials
will continue the philosophy in their policy and procedure to provide
its constituents with the country lifestyle.
C.
According
to the Constitution of the State of New Jersey and applicable law,
the Township Committee and the governing body will carry out its responsibilities.
However, the Township Committee believes it is appropriate to recognize
the rural policies set forth above and will consider same as well
as applicable legal criteria in making decisions to expend taxpayers'
dollars when being asked to provide services to certain persons and/or
entities and when complaints or certain inconveniences are being considered.
Expenditures of public funds that may not produce results that are
cost-effective to New Hanover Township and its rural life will always
be thoroughly reviewed by the Township Committee in its legislative
and executive policy.
E.
The Township Clerk is requested to establish procedures to provide a copy of this section as well as Article I, Right to Farm, to each and every citizen who registers to vote in New Hanover Township, each and every citizen who seeks a building permit, and each and every citizen who pays taxes in the Township Municipal Building and/or seeks advice on the quality of life in New Hanover Township and/or seeks copies of our Land Use Ordinances. This section, besides setting forth a policy or philosophy of New Hanover Township’s residents, is intended to give notice to those who may want to live in this community as to how the residents in this community have lived for the last two centuries while at the same time helping each other as neighbors and seeking to be responsible citizens.
F.
An additional
purpose of this section is to promote a good neighbor policy by advising
purchasers and users of property of any agricultural operation of
the potential discomforts associated with such purchase or residence.
It is intended that, through mandatory disclosures, purchasers and
users will better understand the impacts of living near agricultural
operations and be prepared to accept attendant conditions as the natural
result of living in or near land actively devoted to commercial agriculture
(or in an agricultural development area, meaning an area identified
by a county agriculture development board pursuant to provisions of
N.J.S.A. 4:1C-18 and certified by the State Agriculture Development
Committee). The Township staff, including, but not limited to, the
Deputy Clerk and Tax Collector, shall provide a copy of this section
to any seller of new construction within the Township. The disclosure
required by this subsection is set forth in the disclosure form attached
hereto and made a part hereof.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Said form is on file in the Township offices.
G.
For the
purpose of giving due notice of nearby farming uses to proposed new
residential areas adjacent to unimproved land then being commercially
farmed or suitable therefore, the Land Use Board shall require an
applicant for an adjacent major or minor subdivision, as a condition
of approval of such application, to include in a provision in each
and every contract for and deed conveying all or any portion of the
lands thereby subdivided, as well as on the 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:
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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 New Hanover in its adopted Ordinance No. 2016-05,
as amended, entitled the "Country Code," 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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H.
It is the intent of this section to require all developers in New Hanover Township to include language in their deeds advising buyers of Chapter 96, Article I, Right to Farm, and this article, the Country Code, and to permit the Land Use Board to require this language as part of any subdivision or site plan approval and to direct any developer to include in their deeds to buyers advisement of Article I, Right to Farm, and this article.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. II)]
