[Adopted 3-8-2004 by L.L. No. 1-2004]
Unless specifically defined below, words or phrases used in this article
shall be interpreted so as to give them the meaning they have in common usage
and to give this article its most reasonable and effective application. As
used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
AGRICULTURAL FARM OPERATIONS
Any person, organization, entity, association, partnership or corporation
engaged in the business of agriculture or farming or agriculture practices,
whether for profit or otherwise.
AGRICULTURAL LAND
Any single parcel or multiple, contiguous or noncontiguous parcels
which together represent all the real property within the boundaries of the
Town of Albion currently used for agriculture operations or upon which agriculture
practices are being utilized or upon which agriculture farm operations or
agriculture practices may in the future be established or utilized.
AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES
All activities conducted on a farm which are necessary to the operation
of the farm, including but not limited to the cultivation of land; the raising
of crops; the raising of livestock, beef, animals, dairy and poultry; stables
and horse-boarding facilities; horticulture, timber, fur-bearing animals;
the production, whether for sale to others or home use or consumption, of
plants and animals, fruits, vegetables and field crops; plantations, orchards,
nurseries, greenhouses, or other similar agricultural practices used primarily
for the raising, marketing or sales of on-premises produced agricultural or
horticultural commodities.
A.
Agricultural practices shall also include any activity now permitted
by law, engaged in, by or on behalf of a farmer, in connection with and in
furtherance of the business of agriculture or farming and shall include without
limitation the collection, transportation, distribution and storage of animal
and poultry waste; storage, transportation and use of equipment for tillage,
planting, harvesting, and marketing; transportation and use of legally permitted
fertilizers, limes, insecticides, herbicides and fungicides, all in accordance
with local, state and federal law and in accordance with the manufacturer's
instructions and warnings; construction of farm structures and facilities
as permitted by local law and state building code regulations; construction
and maintenance of fences and other enclosures; and the use and/or maintenance
of related pastures, idle or fallow land, woodland, wetland, farm ponds, farm
roads, and certain farm buildings and other structures related to the agriculture
practices.
B.
The following examples are intended to be illustrative of common agriculture
practices covered within this definition, but are not inclusive:
(1)
Providing for the wholesale and retail marketing (including so-called
“you pick” marketing) and sales of the agricultural output of
the farm and related products that contribute to farm income, including the
sale at the owner's farm stand of agricultural products, so long as at
least 75% of the annual gross sales of the farm stand have been grown on said
farm.
(2)
Replenishing soil nutrients, including but not limited to the spreading
of manure and applying approved chemical and organic fertilizers.
(3)
Using federally approved products, in accordance with label instructions,
as recommended by the New York Agricultural Experiment Station, the United
States Environmental Protection Agency and the New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation for the control of pests, predators, varmints and
diseases affecting plants and livestock and for the control of weed infestation.
(4)
Transporting large, slow-moving equipment over roads within the Town
of Albion, in accordance with local, state and federal law and regulations.
(5)
Clearing of woods using accepted techniques, installing and maintaining
vegetative and terrain alterations, and physical facilities for water and
soil conservation and surface water control.
C.
The foregoing uses, activities, and rights, when reasonable and necessary
for agricultural or horticultural production and when conducted in accordance
with generally accepted agricultural practices, may occur on holidays, Sundays
and weekends, day or night.
FARM
Shall include livestock, beef, dairy, poultry, fur-bearing animal,
agricultural, fruit, vegetable, and field crop farms, plantations, orchards,
nurseries, greenhouses, or other similar operations used primarily for the
raising of agricultural or horticultural commodities.
FARMER
Any person, organization, entity, association, partnership or corporation
engaged in the agricultural farm operation or agricultural practices as defined
herein.
FARMING
The act of engaging in an agricultural farm operation and/or agricultural
practices as defined herein.
Farmers, as well as those employed or otherwise authorized to act on
behalf of farmers, may lawfully engage in agricultural practices or an agricultural
farm operation within the Town of Albion at any and all such times and at
all such locations as are reasonably necessary to carry on an agricultural
farm operation of agricultural practice. In determining the reasonableness
of the time, place and methodology of such operation, due weight and consideration
shall be given to both traditional customs and procedures in the agricultural
industry as well as to advances resulting from increased knowledge or improved
technologies.
No agricultural practices or appurtenances thereto conducted or maintained
in a manner consistent with management practices such as those recommended
by state and federal agencies within the educational aspects of farmers and
agricultural practices or those approved by the County of Orleans Agricultural
and Farmland Protection Board, herein and hereafter referral to as “accepted
customs and standards,” shall be or become either a public or private
nuisance.
No person, group, entity, association, partnership, or corporation shall
engage in any conduct or act in a manner so as to unreasonably, intentionally,
knowingly, and/or deliberately interfere with, prevent, or in any way deter
the practice of farming within the Town of Albion