N.J. Admin. Code § 7:7-9.31
Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 11, June 3, 2024
Section 7:7-9.31 - Farmland conservation areas(a) Farmland conservation areas are defined as any contiguous area of 20 acres or more (in single or multiple tracts of single or multiple ownership) with soils in the Capability Classes I, II and III or special soils for blueberries and cranberries as mapped by the United States Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, in National Cooperative Soil Surveys, which are actively farmed, or suitable for farming, unless it can be demonstrated by the applicant that new or continued use of the site for farming or farm dependent purposes is not economically feasible. Farming or farm-dependent purposes include nurseries, orchards, vegetable and fruit farming, raising grains and seed crops, silviculture (such as Christmas tree farming), floriculture (including greenhouses), dairying, grazing, livestock raising, and wholesale and retail marketing of crops, plants, animals and other related commodities.(b) Farmland conservation areas shall be maintained and protected for open space or farming purposes. Farming or farm-dependent uses are permitted uses in farmland conservation areas. Housing is permitted only if it is an accessory use to farming. Mining is permitted only in accordance with a reclamation plan which meets the requirements of the mining use rule, 7:7-15.8.(c) Continued, renewed, or new farming is encouraged in farmland conservation areas.(d) Rationale: Farmland conservation areas are an irreplaceable natural resource essential to the production of food and fiber, particularly in the "Garden State". Conservation of large, contiguous areas of these lands for farming serves both private and public interests, particularly in terms of ready access to locally-grown food, jobs and open space preservation. In the coastal zone, some of the irreplaceable soil resources have already been converted to urban uses. Other areas which are of a sufficiently large scale to make farming feasible should be reserved for farming purposes, provided that farming is economically feasible.
N.J. Admin. Code § 7:7-9.31
Renumbered from 7:7E-3.33 by 47 N.J.R. 1392(a), effective 7/6/2015