Newark, NJ Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

Newark's Zoning and Land Use Ordinance defines URBAN FARM in Section 41:2-2 as an establishment one acre or larger where legal plants are grown for legal sale, on site or off site, with no other items sold, and it groups aquaculture farms, aquaponic farms, community-supported farms, horticulture nurseries, hydroponic farms, indoor growing operations, outdoor growing operations, rooftop growing operations and vertical farms under the same use. Table 4-1 lists Urban Farm as permitted (P) in every residential district, R-1 through R-6, with no conditional use review, referencing the additional standards in Section 41:4-6.

Those standards, at Section 41:4-6-13, require the farm to provide a water source from an on-site or off-site connection, and cap greenhouses and hoop houses at 15 feet in height, set back at least three feet from side and rear property lines. Farming and selling equipment must be kept in enclosed structures. On the animal side, the only livestock allowed to live on an urban farm are fowl and rabbits, and roosters and any animal that makes noise are barred outright; permitted fowl and rabbits can never run at large and must be confined in a suitable house or coop with an enclosed runway.

Compost generated on an urban farm may be collected and sold or given away on site, a broader allowance than the five-cubic-yard, use-on-site-only standard that applies to ordinary residential composting under Section 41:4-6-5. A farm may also display one sign of up to 10 square feet attached to a building, wall or fence.