Sponsored by:
Assemblyman VINCENT MAZZEO
District 2 (Atlantic)
Assemblyman ERIC HOUGHTALING
District 11 (Monmouth)
Assemblywoman JOANN DOWNEY
District 11 (Monmouth)
Assemblyman RONALD S. DANCER
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
Assemblywoman CAROL A. MURPHY
District 7 (Burlington)
SYNOPSIS
Allows certain preserved farms to hold 14 special occasion events per year; imposes further event restrictions on residentially-exposed preserved farms.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning special occasion events held on preserved farmland and supplementing Title 4 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in this act:
Committee means the State Agriculture Development Committee established pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1983, c.31 (C.4:1C-4).
County board means a county agriculture development board established pursuant to section 7 of P.L.1983, c.32 (C.4:1C-14).
Non-residentially-exposed preserved farmland means preserved farmland that is not residentially-exposed preserved farmland.
Preserved farmland means the same as the term is defined pursuant to section 1 of P.L.2014, c.16 (C.4:1C-32.7), except that the term shall not include any land that is part of a winery, as defined pursuant to section 1 of P.L.2014, c.16 (C.4:1C-32.7), or a cidery, meadery, brewery, or distillery.
Residential road means a road, or road segment of no less than one eighth of a mile in length, on which the speed limit is not greater than 25 miles per hour, and the majority of the parcels adjacent to the road or road segment are residential properties.
Residentially-exposed preserved farmland means preserved farmland, on which:
a. one of the primary spaces used for special occasion events is located within 200 feet of a residential road; or
b. a primary entrance used by persons attending special occasion events on the property is on a residential road.
Special occasion event means a wedding, lifetime milestone event, or other cultural or social event on preserved farmland conducted pursuant to the requirements set forth in section 2 of this act, but shall not include any practice identified by the committee as an agricultural management practice, including but not limited to practices for on-farm direct marketing facilities, activities, and events.
2. a. (1) An event may be considered a special occasion event if the event involves activities and facilities including but not limited to live music, food trucks, side vendors, or other activities and facilities that may be further enumerated pursuant to rules and regulations adopted by the committee. A special occasion event may include the service of alcohol, so long as this service complies with the applicable State law and municipal ordinances.
(2) An event shall be considered a single special occasion event, even if the event lasts for more than one day if the event:
(a) is marketed as a single event;
(b) occurs only on consecutive days; and
(c) does not last for more than three days.
b. An event shall not be considered a special occasion event if:
(1) attendance at the event does not result in a greater volume of parking or pedestrian traffic than is ordinarily present at the same farm on a weekend in which a special occasion event does not occur during the farm s busiest season of the year; or
(2) the event consists of a wedding being held for:
(a) a parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, niece, nephew, or cousin of the owner, or spouse of the owner, of the preserved farmland; or
(b) an employee at the preserved farmland.
c. (1) Notwithstanding any law, or rule or regulation adopted pursuant thereto to the contrary, the owner of the preserved farmland may hold special occasion events on the farm, provided that the owner of the preserved farmland shall not engage in any of the following:
(a) build new structures on preserved farmland for the sole purpose of holding special occasion events;
(b) extend public utilities on preserved farmland, including electric, water, gas, or sewage, other than those already existing and available on the preserved farmland prior to the effective date of this act, for the sole purpose of holding special occasion events; or
(c) unless a greater number of special occasion events are permitted by municipal ordinance:
(i) hold more than 14 special occasion events each calendar year if the farm is a non-residentially-exposed preserved farm; or
(ii) hold more than seven special occasion events each calendar year if the farm is a residentially-exposed preserved farm.
(2) The provisions of this subsection shall not be construed to restrict the ability of an owner of preserved farmland to upgrade infrastructure for the purpose of agricultural or horticultural viability.
d. An owner of preserved farmland may allocate no more than 20 percent of the acreage of the preserved farmland for parking when hosting a special occasion event. The percentage of the preserved farmland that the owner may use for parking for a special occasion event shall not be further reduced by any regulation, ordinance, or other law to the contrary. An owner of preserved farmland shall not pave any preserved farmland that would not otherwise be paved to accommodate parking for a special occasion event, and the owner may use preserved farmland for parking only if this use would result in only minimal or temporary damage to the agricultural or horticultural use of the preserved farmland.
3. a. A person aggrieved by a violation of this act, or any rule or regulation adopted pursuant thereto, by an owner of preserved farmland shall comply with the provisions of section 5 of P.L.1998, c.48 (C.4:1C-10.1) in the filing of a complaint.
b. An owner of preserved farmland who violates this act, or any rule or regulation adopted pursuant thereto, shall be liable to a civil penalty of up to $250 for the first offense, up to $500 for the second offense, or up to $1,000 for a subsequent offense, to be collected in a civil action commenced by the committee.
c. In addition to the penalties established pursuant to subsection b. of this section:
(1) for a second offense, the committee shall, after a hearing, s