Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024
(a) A municipality
seeking to establish its eligibility for a grant under this subchapter shall:
1. Establish an agricultural advisory committee
appointed by the mayor with the consent of the municipal governing body. The
municipal agricultural advisory committee shall report to the municipal planning
board.
i. A municipal agricultural advisory
committee shall be composed of at least three, but not more than five, residents of
the municipality, with a majority of the members actively engaged in farming and
owning a portion of the land they farm; and
ii. A member of the agricultural advisory
committee or a member of his or her immediate family, is prohibited from selling or
applying to sell a development easement on his or her property or from selling or
applying to sell his or her property in fee simple title pursuant to the Agriculture
Retention and Development Act, N.J.S.A. 4:1C-11 et seq., and the Garden State
Preservation Trust Act, N.J.S. A. 13:8C-1 et seq., if such property is located in
the municipality for which the landowner serves as a member of the agricultural
advisory committee.
(1) "Member of the immediate
family" means a member's spouse, child, parent, or sibling, residing in the same
household; and
iii. The
agricultural advisory committee shall meet at least two times annually in compliance
with the Senator Byron M. Baer Open Public Meetings Act, N.J.S.A. 10:4-6 et
seq.
2. Maintain a
dedicated source of funding for farmland preservation pursuant to
P.L.
1997, c. 24 (40:12-15.1
et seq.), or an alternative means of funding for farmland preservation, such as, but
not limited to:
i. A dedicated tax pursuant to
P.L.
1997, c. 24 (40:12-15.1
et seq.);
ii. Repeated, continuing
annual appropriations; or
iii. Repeated
issuance of bonded indebtedness.
(1) The Committee
may determine that a funding source, other than those identified in (a)2 above, is,
in effect, a dedicated source of funding based upon a demonstrated commitment to
farmland preservation by the municipality;
3. Prepare and adopt a farmland preservation plan
element pursuant to paragraph 13 of
section
19 of P.L. 1975, c. 291 (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-28b(13))
in consultation with the municipal agriculture advisory committee. The plan shall
include, at a minimum, the following:
i. An
inventory of farm properties in the entire municipality and a map illustrating
significant areas of agricultural land;
ii. A detailed statement showing that municipal
plans and ordinances support and promote agriculture as a business; and
iii. A plan for preserving as much farmland as
possible in the short-term by leveraging monies made available by the Garden State
Preservation Trust Act,
P.L.
1999, c. 152 (N.J.S.A.
13:8C-1 et seq.), the Preserve New Jersey Act,
P.L.
2016, c. 12 (N.J.S.A.
13:8C-43 et seq.), or by any appropriation to the Committee for farmland
preservation purposes through a variety of mechanisms including, but not limited to,
utilizing:
(1) Option agreements;
(2) Installment purchases; and
(3) Encouraging donations for permanent
development easements; and
iv. Additional requirements set forth at
N.J.A.C.
2:76-17A.4; and
4. Prepare and adopt a right-to-farm ordinance
that is consistent with, or provides greater protections to commercial farm
operators and owners than, the Right to Farm Act,
4:1C-1 et seq., as
determined by the Committee.
