[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Health of the Township of Pohatcong 2-6-1973
as Ch. 102 of the 1973 Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
For the purpose of this chapter, the words or terms listed below shall
be defined and interpreted as follows:
Includes all waste material from the tables of hotels, restaurants,
private homes and all other waste products from kitchens, stores, bake shops
or other places where food is prepared, consumed, handled or sold for human
use.
Includes firm, partnership, corporation, an individual or one more
individuals.
Includes hogs, swine, shoats and pigs more than 60 days of age.
Sterilized, dehydrated, ground animal protein.
The granting of a permit hereunder shall in no way authorize the creation
of a nuisance or the maintenance of an obnoxious condition, and shall in no
way regulate or prevent the passing of future ordinances concerning the prohibition
of, or the limitation upon, the keeping of pigs or the bringing of garbage
into this Township.
[Amended 10-2-2001 by Ord. No. 01-8[1]]
A.
No person shall have, keep, raise or maintain more that
10 pigs or swine in the Township without first procuring a license as hereinafter
required. The license period shall begin on September 1 of each year and end
on August 31 of each succeeding year.
B.
A minimum twenty-acre lot is required for the keeping,
raising or maintaining of the pigs and swine. One additional acre is required
for each additional animal beyond 10.
C.
No license shall be issued for the keeping of more than
200 pigs or swine.
A.
Application for a license shall be made upon a form supplied
by the Board of Health, and a license fee of $50 shall accompany the application;
in case the application is refused, the fee shall be returned to the applicant.
B.
The Board of Health shall inspect the premises of the
applicant prior to issuing a license.
C.
The Board of Health shall set a date for a public hearing
upon the application. It shall be the duty of the applicant to publish a notice
of his intention to apply for a license in a newspaper circulating within
the Township, at least two weeks before the date for issuing such license.
D.
The Board of Health, after said hearing, may refuse said
license, grant it as requested, grant it upon condition or grant it in modified
form as the findings of the Board may show to be for the best interest of
the safety, health, welfare, comfort and well-being of the residents of the
Township.
E.
Said license shall not be assignable, and the license
shall be limited to the premises on which the licensee had pigs on August
7, 1951. Each applicant shall accompany his application with a legal description
of the property to be licensed.
F.
All applicants, in accepting a license, must agree to
conform to the requirements of this chapter.
Any person having or keeping pigs under a license issued under this
chapter shall comply with the following provisions:
A.
All buildings, yards or enclosures in which any pigs
shall be kept shall at all times be in a neat, orderly, clean and sanitary
condition.
B.
All buildings used for the keeping of pigs shall be provided
with a concrete or other nonabsorbent floor built above the surface of the
surrounding ground, with a concrete or other nonabsorbent side wall on all
enclosed portions extending 36 inches above the floor and so joined with the
floor as to furnish a cove or curved surface for easy cleaning.
C.
All feeding shall be done under cover upon a concrete
floor or floor of nonabsorbent character.
D.
A suitable receptacle for manure and other waste material
shall be constructed of concrete or other nonabsorbent material, shall be
under cover, shall be watertight on the sides and bottom and shall be covered
by a tight, removable top to prevent the escape of odors and access of flies
or other insect to the same. Compliance with this subsection shall not be
necessary if manure is spread daily. Dung, manure and feed residue shall be
removed from the area where pigs are kept at least once daily. When the material
is spread upon the ground, it shall be spread in thin applications so as to
dry quickly, but the same area shall not be spread more often than once every
30 days unless the ground is plowed under in the interval between spreading.
E.
All liquid waste, including water used to wash down the
side walls, liquids from the sheds, the barns, from the manure pit or loading
area, and any water from washing trucks or other equipment shall be conducted
by a suitable drain to an underground cistern and disposed of either in an
approved sewage disposal field or pumped into a closed tank and spread upon
the fields in such a manner and at such time to prevent it gathering in pools
or running off the land.[1]
F.
There must be an available supply of water kept under
at least 20 pounds' pressure, equipped with sufficient hose connections
to allow all parts of the building wherein pigs are kept to be completely
hosed down at least once in each seven days or at such times as the Board
of Health shall indicate.
G.
All buildings where pigs are kept shall be whitewashed
semiannually.
H.
Proper equipment and material shall be constantly kept
on hand and used as required to control flies and other insects.
I.
All dead animals shall be buried or removed within 24
hours of death.
J.
All runs or yards used for pigs, except those used for brood sows, shall be of concrete or other nonabsorbent material and be drained as specified in Subsection E above.
K.
All runs shall be securely fenced or enclosed and no
depressions containing liquids shall be allowed.
No person operating under a license issued hereunder shall locate any
building, pig run, yard or pasture wherein pigs are kept, closer than 500
feet to any highway or closer than 1,000 feet to any dwelling or residence
on the farm whereon pigs are kept.
A.
The area wherein pigs are kept, except where they are
housed in closed buildings, shall be completely fenced with a sturdy, well-constructed,
closely woven wire fence or other equally effective fence so as to prevent
any pigs from trespassing on adjoining property.
B.
No pig or pigs shall be allowed at large upon the owner's
property outside of properly fenced pasture. Any sick or diseased pig which
escapes from the owner's property may be a cause for revoking this owner's
license.
No garbage or vegetable matter and no flesh of any animal, fowl or fish
shall at any time be transported upon the highways of this Township or brought
into this Township for the purpose of feeding the same to pigs within the
Township. This section shall not be effective prior to January 1, 1952, as
to existing piggeries on August 7, 1951.
Where there are presently existing commercial piggeries within the Township,
the following rules shall govern:
A.
If there are more applicants than licenses to be granted,
piggeries already in existence shall have preference.
B.
If the buildings being used at the time of the adoption of this chapter violate § 299-6 hereof, the requirement of that section shall be waived for a period of six months, but no additional building shall be constructed in violation thereof. No license shall be renewed until all the provisions of § 299-6 have been complied with.
C.
The requirements of § 299-6 may be suspended for six months so far as they apply to buildings presently used for pigs, provided that the licensee carries out all sanitary directions given by the Township Board of Health. This exemption shall not apply to buildings constructed subsequent to the enactment of this chapter.
Any person who violates any of the provisions of this chapter shall,
upon conviction thereof, pay a fine of not less than $500. Each and every
day that any violation of this chapter occurs or is allowed to continue after
occurring shall constitute a different offense, subjecting the violator, upon
conviction thereof, to a fine for each offense. The Township Board of Health
may revoke the license of any person who fails to pay his fine within five
days of the same being imposed. Any person having three convictions shall
be barred from having a renewal of his license.
