Politics & Government

Farming Ordinance Could Antagonize Green Villagers

Neighbors of 461 Green Village Rd. say that operating a commercial farm on that property could do more harm than good.

A potential ordinance allowing small farming operations on properties south of Green Village Road has shown a spotlight on alleged harrassment of the neighborhood's residents.

Thomas and Debra Bucuk purchased property at 461 Green Village Rd. in 2010. Their son Michael wants to run a farm. He studied at Rutgers and hopes to turn the property into an organic farm. They hope to sell their produce at the Chatham Farmer's Market eventually.

Neighbors allege that the Bucuks have been operating a landscaping business from the property, which is currently zoned as a residential area.

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From the Neighbors' Point of View

Jeanette Hinds Miller addressed the committee on behalf of her son Dan, who could not be present at the May 12 meeting. The property at 465 Green Village Rd., she said, had been in her family for more than 100 years. Four generations had farmed the land.

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"Right now there are 'For Sale' signs on the land," she said. On the first day that the property was for sale, she said Dan received offers to develop the property into three homes with a roadway or into low income housing. "In the past, he has turned all of these offers away. Now he's listening," she said.

"It's a shame that one person who really knows nothing about Green Village, or the people there, or the meaning of that land, can use harrassing tacticts, such as numerous emails, letters, and ranting to anyone he can corner, and standing in his yard, staring across the street, pointing his fingers and waving his arms whenever he sees a neighbor outside, meaning us, ... can cause so many problems."

"If he had taken the time to walk across the street and communicated with us, this could have been avoided," Miller said.

Committee Member Bailey Brower Jr. said trying to sell the property to make a point "does him [Dan Miller] no good." He said property owners have the right to use their land as they wish, as long as they are not disturbing their neighbors, and that the committee will only entertain passing a farming ordinance that follows those guidelines.

Richard Erich Templin, of 480 Green Village Rd., sent his attorney, Jonathan Mayers, to read a letter at the Township Committee Meeting on May 12.

Templin's letter said that allowing a farm to operate so near to the Great Swamp Refuge, which abuts the proposed farming zone to the south, could have severe ramifications.

"Farming is a dirty business. Even under the best of circumstances, it requires the use of heavy equipment, intruduction into the ground of quantities chemicals such as fertilizers, creates loud noise, ... creates pollution and places heavy demands of use on our infrastructure. ... The change of use of the property to a farm will dramatically change the now pastoral character of Green Village, a character that has thus far endured for several decades."

The change, Templin's letter said, would likely be "irreversible." It continued, "My neighbors and I have taken notice will not stand idly by and watch this happen."

Alleged Preferential Treatment

The letter stated that the committee "is not enforcing its laws" when it comes to the Bucuk's property, and that the committee was either "selectively enforcing its laws" or "giving the owners preferential treatment."

It read that the committee had allowed the Bucuks to operate "an intensely active landscaping business, Green Path Landcare" and "[to make] substantial and in some cases permanent changes to the property itself and its use."

Township Mayor Nicole Hagner said that she and other township officials had been made aware of the changes happening at the Bucuk's property and said, "[We] are not giving preferential treatment to anybody."

She said the Township Administrator, Tom Ciccarone, and the zoning officer had been out to the property several times to check on reports of illegal activity, including building sheds and an access roadway on the property, and had stopped anything that was not approved use for the property.

Brower said that Mayers and his client were "overreaching" when they accused township officials of misconduct. "I resent the implications," he said.

Township Attorney Carl Woodward said he too was offended that Templin should say that township officials were selectively enforcing their laws.

"I've spoken with Mr. Templin on a number of occasions. He's sent me many emails ... I know that the zoning officer has been out on this property on a number of occasions, because in fact Mr. Templin wrote me a number of emails thanking me for all that we did. So frankly, I find it a little difficult to understand how we can be accused of giving someone preferential treatment or not enforcing the laws."

Farming Could Be 'Awesome'

Debra Bucuk said that many of the things she'd heard about herself and her family were "totally untrue." 

"I feel like this guy [Templin is] harrassing us. The police have been at our house numerous times. The DEP has come, the Great Swamp Watershed has come four or five times. I feel like every time I turn around, this guy's calling somebody on us.

"We're not doing anything wrong. We're not running our landscaping business off our property."

Busuk said that she hoped the township would pass an ordinance that would allow farming on small parcels of land, but without creating so many restrictions that it would be impossible for a farming business to operate.

"We're going to make hardly any money on this. We're trying to do this to be able to be part of the Chatham Farmer's Market, to bring our organic vegetables there. ... This is taking away money from us and time from our business, but we want to do this because it's something my son is interested in doing and something that we think is awesome for the town. And all we're doing is being harrassed."

The Bucuks had also reached out to the Morris County Soil Conservation District for a plan to preserve the property as farmland and for help laying out a farming plan that would minimize effects to the surrounding environment.

"We're not trying to do anything bad," Bucuk said.

Brower said the allegations of harrassment between the neighbors was "terribly upsetting. I don't like to see that happening in our town. It's an affront to us," he said.

Family Farming Ordinance

Ciccarone said that the Bucuks had begun preparations to farm the land after they purchased it because they believed they had the right to do so. It was after they learned that they could not operate a farm in the residential zone that they began to look into ways to change the property's use.

Ciccarone also said that just because they could not operate a farm or business on the property did not mean that the owners could not make landscaping or other changes to their property. "To date I have not personally seen zoning violations. We are continuing to monitor that situation and to investigate [the neighbors'] concerns and complaints."

The small farms ordinance is still in its beginning stages. Woodward wrote a draft document for the committee, but not every member received a copy before the May 12 meeting. Further changes needed to be made from the township's discussion and the residents' concerns, and Committee Member Bill O'Connor said the committee needs to be certain that "other people who want to do it under the ordinance don't have loopholes."

Hagner designated a subcommittee to work with Woodward and the county on drafting an ordinance that would "find a balance" in addressing the needs and concerns of the Green Village residents. She and Deputy Mayor Bob Gallop will sit on the subcommittee.

Any family farming ordinance would need to be approved by the Planning Board. Ciccarone said at a previous meeting that it was unlikely the ordinance would be passed this year.

Editor's Note: A previous version of this article stated that Miller had called township officials to come to the Bucuk's home. Templin was in fact the person who did so, according to Debra Bucuk. Chatham Patch has corrected the error and apologizes to its readers.


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