The Right to Farm

(2) Sale of farm products shall be conducted from a portable stand, dismantled at the end of the growing season, or from a permanent building, closed at the end of the growing season, under the following conditions:
[Amended 11-10-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-08]



(a) Such building shall be located at least 40 feet from the right-of-way line of the road.

(b) Such building shall not exceed 600 square feet in size;

(c) Adequate off-street parking spaces shall be provided which are screened or buffered from the highway or street;

(d) Such buildings will be in character with other buildings on the site.

D. The keeping or raising of farm animals on residential lots of less than one acre is prohibited. For residential lots larger than one acre, the raising or keeping of one farm animal per acre shall be permitted, excluding the first acre. On a lot with a size of two acres, there shall be permitted one farm animal. On a lot with a size of three acres, there shall be permitted two farm animals and so forth. For the purposes of this subsection, “farm animals”shall be defined to include, but not be limited to, horses, cattle, sheep, goats and other livestock.




§ 215-98. Building regulations.


A. Farm buildings shall not be constructed closer than 85 feet to a front property line, nor closer than 50 feet to a side or rear property line.

B. No farmhouse shall be constructed closer than 50 feet to such lines.

C. No barn shall be established closer than 50 feet to any property line, nor closer than 100 feet to an existing dwelling. New dwellings, also, shall not be built closer than 100 feet to existing farm buildings.

D. All other new construction, including structures for temporary storage of feeds, shall conform to setback requirements.

E. All farm buildings are to be approved by the Construction Code Official as to structural safety.




§ 215-99. Right to farm.


[Amended by Ord. No. 96-3]

A. Findings.

(1) The Township Council recognizes the benefits to society in general, the community and its neighborhoods, from horticulture, commercial and home agriculture and animal husbandry, hereafter called farming, by the preservation of open space and the preservation of the aesthetics of the rural countryside and the supplying of present and future generations with the bounties resulting from such activities; and

(2) The Township Council has determined that such horticultural, agricultural and animal husbandry uses are necessary to humankind and that the right to carry on such pursuits should be protected for the benefit of the residents of the Township of Springfield; and

(3) The Township Council finds and determines that farmers must be secure in their ability to earn a livelihood and to utilize acceptable, necessary and recognized farming procedure and techniques; and

(4) The Township Council finds and determines that the right to farm all land is a natural right and is hereby ordained to exist as a permitted use everywhere in the Township, regardless of zoning designations and regardless of whether specified as permitted uses therein.

B. Purpose. It is the intent of this subsection to define and prescribe acceptable, necessary and recognized farming practices herein encouraged, established and preserved.

C. Definitions. For the purposes of interpretation of this subsection, the following definitions shall apply:

COMMERCIAL AGRICULTURE
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; and nursery, floral, ornamental and greenhouse products.

FARM
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 enclosures related to agricultural pursuits.

HOME AGRICULTURE
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.


D. “Right to farm” activities protected. In accordance with the purposes and findings set forth herein, 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:

(1) Production of agricultural and horticultural crops, trees and forest products, livestock, poultry and other related commodities.

(2) Processing and packaging of the agricultural output of the commercial farm.

(3) Providing 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 building and parking areas in conformance with applicable Township standards.

(4) Replenishing soil nutrients, including, but not limited to, the spreading of manure and applying chemical and organic fertilizers.

(5) Using federally approved products, in accordance with labeled instructions, as recommended by the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the control of pests, predators, varmints and diseases affecting plants and livestock, and for the control of weed infestation.

(6) Clearing woodlands by using open burning and other accepted techniques, and installing and maintaining vegetative and terrain alternations and other physical facilities for water and soil conservation and surface water control in wetland areas.

(7) Using irrigation pumps and equipment and undertaking aerial and ground seeding and spraying, using tractors and other necessary equipment.

( Hiring and utilizing necessary farm labor.

(9) Constructing fences.

(10) Transporting large, slow-moving equipment over roads within the Township.

(11) Conducting 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.

E. Notice of farm use. 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 Planning 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: