Monroe Township (Middlesex County), NJ Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

Section 108-6.27 of the Monroe Township Code governs the RR-FLP Rural Residential-Farmland Preservation District in Middlesex County. Single-family dwellings and farms, truck gardens and other agricultural activities are listed together as permitted uses, so farming in this district needs no conditional use permit.

Two standards attach to agricultural activity. Stables housing horses cannot be located closer than 100 feet to any property line. The number of horses on a site is limited to a ratio of one horse for each 40,000 square feet of the site, or major fraction thereof, in excess of the first acre of lot area.

Some farm-related uses need a conditional use permit under Article VII of Chapter 108: a farm stand or market, nursery, landscaping and horticulture, mulch processing facilities, public utility installations and annual membership clubs such as country, golf, tennis and swim clubs. Permitted accessory uses are private garages and private swimming pools under Article XII. Signs follow Article X, parking follows Article IX and fences follow Article VIII.

Lot size is set in the schedule in § 108-6.4. Under subsection C, the minimum lot size was increased to ten acres, and individual lots under ten acres that met the former six-acre minimum and all other RR-FLP area, yard and building requirements when the ordinance was adopted are grandfathered under the prior requirements.

Subsection E allows cluster development to preserve open space and farmland. A cluster of noncontiguous properties is allowed among the RR-FLP, R3-A, R-60, R-30 and R-20 zones, and the Planning Board can approve one if it serves municipal purposes and suits preserving open space, farmland or parks under the Monroe Township Open Space and Recreation Plan.

Separately, Chapter 113 of the Township Code recognizes the right to farm as a natural right (§ 113-1) and allows reasonable and necessary farming activity on holidays, Sundays and weekdays, at night and in the day, when conducted under accepted agricultural practices as promulgated by the Rutgers University School of Agriculture (§ 113-3).