Township Unveils Draft Farming Ordinance

Chatham Township released a draft of the proposed farming ordinance Wednesday.

The draft proposes adding "market gardens" as a permitted conditional use under the Land Development code. By in the township, Mayor Nicole Hagner said the town "would [have] flexibility in the areas which are generally residential for special uses like this." Churches and cell towers, Hagner said, are other conditional uses permitted in town.

While the ordinance applies to all of Chatham Township, the ordinance specifically mentions "the presence of sufficient available land within certain portions of ... " The township also has other functioning farms within its borders, and owners are prohibited from assessing or preserving their land as farm land without an ordinance permitting farming in the township.

If approved as-is, the ordinance will only apply to areas of "not less than three (3) contiguous acres" and exclusively permits produce, fruit trees, flowers and bee-keeping "for sale off-premises."

The ordinance also allows for:

1. Temporary greenhouses less than 250-square-feet, as long as the greenhouse is over 100 feet from any street right-of-way and more than 50 feet from neighboring property.
2. Fencing that meets preexisting township requirements
3. Control for pests, but only "in accordance with a farm conservation plan issued by the Soil Conservation District and the United States Department of Agriculture, and filed with the Township Clerk." It also allows for manure and chemical fertilizers.
4. Any equipment, including tractors, "excluding those that create noise, such as sirens or explosive devices."

According to the draft, any market gardens must also follow state farming regulations, and recommendations from the Morris County Agriculture Development Board and the Rutgers Agricultural Experiment Station.

The Planning Board will review the ordinance, as well as a summary of all three options for permitting farming in town, and make a recommendation back to the council on the best course of action.

The board's next meeting is scheduled for Monday at 7:30 p.m. Planning Board President Lydia Chambers said the farming ordinance is the only item on the agenda and unless the board receives some necessary documents for the issue, the meeting may be canceled.