Farm Ordinances Tabled As Howell Cancels Council Meeting

HOWELL, NJ — The Howell Township Council has canceled its meeting set for Tuesday where it was set to hold public hearings on five ordinances that would have permitted special events at farm properties in the township.

The cancellation, officials said, was the result of the town receiving a letter from an attorney representing a business in town that opposes the ordinances.

The ordinances were introduced at the May 7 council meeting after lengthy discussions with representatives of farm owners in Howell who have been seeking permission to hold weddings and other large gatherings at their properties.

Farms have become popular venues in recent years for a variety of celebrations and events, and in March farm owners pleaded with the council to take action on their requests for a way to hold special events, giving them another way to earn money and stay afloat.

Howell Township officials at the time said they were trying to find a solution that helps the farms while not opening the town to litigation over special carve-outs that would not be available to other commercial entities. Read more: Farm Owners Beg Howell To Ease Event-Hosting Rules

The ordinances, O-24-13 through O-24-17, would set out rules for large-scale and small-scale events, with guest maximums for small events defined by the size of the farm property. They also would have created farm stand and farmers market permissions, set fees and laid out the process for requesting permits or going before land use boards for permissions. They can be read on the May 7 meeting agenda.

On Friday, township officials announced the cancellation of Tuesday's council meeting.

"As many of you may know, the Township has been working with the farming community to develop ordinances to allow farms to be used for a variety of special events," officials said in a statement published on the township's Facebook page. "We recognize the importance of farming and these ordinances were designed to help keep farming viable within the Township."

"We recently received a letter from an attorney representing a business in Town opposing the ordinances. The letter pointed out concerns regarding potential preferential treatment of the farming community. Consequently, we are tabling the ordinances while we analyze the concerns raised in the letter."

"As there was almost no other business on the agenda, the meeting is being cancelled. New ordinances will be introduced at a later date," the statement said.