A2773

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

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

(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, suspend the owner of the preserved farmland from conducting special occasion events for a period of up to six months;

(2) for a third offense, the committee shall, after a hearing, suspend the owner of the preserved farmland from conducting special occasion events for a period of at least six months but not more than one year; and

(3) for a fourth or subsequent offense, the committee shall, after a hearing, suspend the owner of the preserved farmland from conducting special occasion events for a period of at least one year but not more than two years.

d. Any penalty imposed pursuant to this section may be collected, with costs, in a summary proceeding pursuant to the “Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999,” P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.). The Superior Court and the municipal court shall have jurisdiction to enforce the provisions of the “Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999” in connection with this act.

e. The committee shall notify, in writing, the appropriate county board whenever it suspends, pursuant to subsection c. of this section, an owner of preserved farmland from conducting special occasion events. The notice shall identify the owner and location of the preserved farmland and the time period of the suspension.

4. a. No later than 90 days after the effective date of this act and notwithstanding the provisions of the “Administrative Procedure Act,” P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.) to the contrary, the committee shall immediately upon filing proper notice with the Office of Administrative Law, adopt interim rules and regulations to implement this act. Notwithstanding any provision of P.L.1983, c.31 (C.4:1C-1 et al.) concerning the independence of the committee, such regulations shall be effective as regulations immediately upon approval by the State Board of Agriculture and filing with the Office of Administrative Law. Such regulations shall be in effect for a period not to exceed 18 months, and shall, thereafter, be amended, adopted, or readopted by the committee in accordance with the provisions of the “Administrative Procedure Act.” Rules and regulations promulgated by the committee to effectuate the provisions of this act shall not take effect prior to approval by the State Board of Agriculture.

b. The rules and regulations adopted by the committee shall ensure that the holding of a special occasion event on preserved farmland does not:

(1) interfere with any agricultural deed restrictions for farmland preservation purposes on the preserved farmland; or

(2) result in the use of preserved farmland for primarily non-agricultural or horticultural purposes.

5. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill would allow an owner of preserved farmland to hold no more than 14 special occasion events on the preserved farmland per year, if located in a non-residentially-exposed area. The bill would allow only seven special occasion events if the preserved farmland is located in a residentially-exposed area. The provisions of the bill would not apply to wineries, cideries, meaderies, breweries, or distilleries.

The bill defines a “special occasion event” as a wedding, lifetime milestone event, or other cultural or social event, such as those involving live music, food trucks and side vendors, but would not include any practices identified by the State Agricultural Development Committee (“SADC”) as agricultural management practices, such as on-farm direct marketing facilities, activities, and events in accordance with N.J.A.C.2:76-2A.13. An event would be considered a single special occasion event even if it lasts for more than one day, as long as the event is marketed as a single event, occurs only on consecutive days, and does not last for more than three days. An event would not be considered a special occasion event if attendance 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. Weddings of parents, children, grandparents, grandchildren, siblings, nieces, nephews, and cousins of the owner, or spouse of the owner, of the preserved farmland also would not be considered special occasion events. Weddings of employees at the preserved farmland also would not be considered special occasion events.

The bill defines “residentially-exposed preserved farmland” as preserved farmland, on which:

· one of the primary spaces on the property used for special occasion events is located within 200 feet of a primarily residential road; or

· a primary entrance used by persons attending special occasion events on the property is on a primarily residential road.

The bill would allow non-residentially-exposed, and residentially-exposed preserved farms to hold no more than 14 or 7 special occasion events each year, respectively, unless a greater number of events are permitted by municipal ordinance. The bill would prohibit an owner of preserved farmland from building a new structure or extending certain utility lines, if these activities are conducted for the sole purpose of holding special occasion events.

The bill permits an owner of preserved farmland to allocate 20 percent of the acreage of the farm for parking when hosting a special occasion event, so long as the land is not paved for the special occasion event that would not otherwise be paved, and the use of the land for parking would result in only minimal or temporary damage to the agricultural or horticultural use of the lands.

The owner of preserved farmland that violates the provisions of the bill may be subject 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. Additionally, a second offense would result in a suspension from conducting special occasion events for a period of up to six months; a third offense would result in a suspension from conducting special occasion events for a period of at least six months but not more than one year; and a fourth or subsequent offense, would result in the suspension from conducting special occasion events for a period of at least one year but not more than two years. A person aggrieved by a violation of the requirements of the bill would be required to file a complaint with the applicable county agriculture development board, or with SADC in counties where no county board exists, prior to filing an action in court.

Lastly, the bill provides rulemaking authority to SADC, however, rules and regulations promulgated by SADC to effectuate the provisions of the bill would not take effect until approved by the State Board of Agriculture. The bill directs SADC to ensure that the rules and regulations provide that the holding of a special occasion event on preserved farmland would not (1) interfere with any agricultural deed restrictions for farmland preservation purposes on the preserved farmland, or (2) result in the use of preserved farmland for primarily non-agricultural or horticultural purposes.