[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee
of the Township of Alexandria 4-13-1983 by Ord. No. 83-5. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
This chapter is adopted with the intent of establishing
the right to farm in Alexandria Township and setting forth protections
applicable to commercial farm operations.
A.
Whereas:
(1)
One of the purposes of the Municipal Land Use Law
set forth in N.J.S.A. 40:55D-2g is to provide sufficient space in
appropriate locations for agricultural uses in order to meet the needs
of all New Jersey citizens;
(2)
(3)
The Division of Planning of the New Jersey Department
of Community Affairs advocates the preservation of open space for
agricultural use in the State Development Guide Plan, Revised Draft,
published May 1980, and said State Development Guide Plan recognizes
Alexandria Township as lying within an agricultural area;
(4)
The Hunterdon County Planning Board designates much
of Alexandria Township as having prime agricultural soils on the Future
Land Use Plan, revised November 1975, and advocates developing the
means to keep agricultural lands productive;
(5)
The retention of agricultural activities serves the
best interests of all citizens of Alexandria Township and the State
of New Jersey as a whole by ensuring the numerous social, economic
and environmental benefits which accrue from the agricultural industry;
(6)
The retention of agricultural land is essential to
providing the citizens of Alexandria Township and the State of New
Jersey as a whole with food and fiber and also ensuring the protection
of aesthetic values through the preservation of open space;
(7)
Agriculture is a dominant, existing industry within
Alexandria Township and is also the original and primary use of land
within Alexandria Township;
(8)
The extension of nonagricultural land uses, particularly
residential uses, into agricultural areas often results in agricultural
operations becoming the subject of nuisance complaints and actions;
(9)
The proximity of residences to agricultural areas
often results in trespasses upon privately owned agricultural lands,
where machinery and other equipment and materials may be used and
stored, increasing the risk of liability to agricultural landowners
from accidents occurring on their lands due to such trespasses;
(10)
Commercial farms are thereby discouraged and sometimes
forced to cease operation, encouraging agricultural lands to become
converted to nonagricultural uses; and
(11)
It is the policy of the Township Committee to conserve
and protect and encourage the development and improvement of agricultural
lands within the Township for the production of food and other agricultural
products and the preservation of open space and to protect and encourage
the viability of the agricultural industry by establishing a positive
agricultural business climate in order to promote agricultural production
to serve the interests of all citizens of Alexandria Township and
the State of New Jersey.
(12)
Therefore, in accordance with the policy of the Township
Committee as set forth herein, it is the purpose of this chapter to
help reduce the loss of agricultural land resources in Alexandria
Township by protecting commercial farms operated in accordance with
acceptable methods and techniques of agricultural production from
nuisance actions while at the same time acknowledging the need to
provide a proper balance among the varied and sometimes conflicting
interests of all lawful activities in the State of New Jersey.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Agricultural management practices recommended or endorsed
by the State Agricultural Development Committee as interpreted by
the Hunterdon County Agricultural Development Board and all relevant
federal or state statutes or rules and regulations adopted pursuant
thereto.
Any operation producing, with the expectation of sale, agricultural
or horticultural products worth $2,500 or more annually (c.f. P.L.
1983, c. 31)[1] which meets the eligibility criteria for differential
property taxation pursuant to the Farmland Assessment Act of 1964,
P.L. 1964, c. 48 (N.J.S.A. 54:4-23.1 et seq.).
Any private action which unreasonably interferes with the
comfortable enjoyment of another's property, which may be enjoined
or abated, and for which the injured or affected property owner may
recover damages.
[1]
Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 4:1C-1 et seq.
A.
In all relevant actions filed subsequent to the adoption
of this chapter, it shall be presumed that a commercial farm or agricultural
use of structure or activity in connection therewith which is conducted
or located within the Township and which conforms to acceptable agricultural
management practices and which does not pose a direct threat to public
health and safety shall not constitute a public or private nuisance
nor shall any such use, activity or structure be deemed to otherwise
invade or interfere with the use and enjoyment of any other land or
property or pose an unusual or unreasonable threat to persons.
B.
Any agricultural use or common farm site activity
which conforms to acceptable agricultural management practices, when
reasonable and necessary for the operation of the commercial farm,
may occur on holidays, Sundays and weekdays, at night and in the day,
subject to the restrictions and regulations of the Township's Zoning
Ordinance,[1] state and Township health and sanitary codes and state
and federal environmental regulations.
C.
Agricultural uses and common farm site activities
specifically protected by this chapter include but are not limited
to production, harvesting, storage, grading, packaging, processing
and the wholesale and retail marketing of crops, plants, animals and
other related commodities and the use and application of techniques
and methods of soil preparation and management, fertilization, weed,
disease and pest control, disposal of farm waste, irrigation, drainage
and water management and grazing.
A.
Whenever the Township Committee of the Township of
Alexandria is in receipt of a complaint alleging that an agricultural
use, structure or activity in connection with a commercial farm operation
constitutes a nuisance or is not in conformance with acceptable management
practices, the Township Committee may refer the complaint to the duly
appointed Agricultural Retention Committee for mediation.
B.
Upon the referral of such a complaint by the Township
Committee to the Agricultural Retention Committee, the Agricultural
Retention Committee shall invite the affected parties to a meeting
to discuss the nature of the complaint, its reasonableness or unreasonableness
in light of acceptable management practices and any solution or remedy
which will satisfy the aggrieved party without interferring with or
discouraging the operation of the commercial farm against which the
complaint was registered. The results of the meeting shall be nonbinding
upon either party and shall not abridge the right of either party
to take legal action concerning the complaint. The Agricultural Retention
Committee shall conduct the meeting according to its own bylaws and
shall keep a record of the proceedings.
[Added 12-10-1997; amended 6-14-2017 by Ord. No. 2017-01]
For the purpose of giving due notice of nearby
farming uses to proposed new residential areas adjacent to unimproved
land then being farmed or suitable therefor, the Land Use Board shall
require any applicant for an adjacent major or minor subdivision,
as a condition of approval of such application, to include, a provision
in each and every 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 provision shall be made to run with
the land.
A.
The grantee hereby acknowledges notice that there
are presently or may in the future be farm uses adjacent or in close
proximity to the within described premises from which farm use may
emanate noise, odors, dust and fumes associated with agricultural
practices permitted under the Alexandria Township Right to Farm Ordinance,
and, by acceptance of this conveyance, the grantee does hereby waive
objection to such activities.
