Proof that zoning ordinances affecting a proposed project can be changed.  Proof comes from right in our own backyard (literally for some of us)....My personal opinion - there's too much HORSE ANURE going before planning boards these days ():

Developers: Horse farm may not need zoning OK

Ruling by county could pre-empt board decision

By Rob Seman, Daily Record

BOONTON TWP. -- Prospective developers looking to build a 100-stall equestrian facility on Rockaway Valley Road told the township zoning board that the county's blessing of the proposal last week may pre-empt the local board's decision.

Mary Anne Brennan, an attorney for horse enthusiast Catherine McMullen-Blake of Essex Fells, said the developers are waiting for the Morris County Agricultural Development Board to memorialize last week's decision before formally making that argument.

McMullen-Blake, sole owner of Ceemacfarm, the company that bought the preserved former farm of Fred Weiss Jr., is appealing zoning officer Edward Bucceri's decision that the agriculture allowed in the residential zone does not include horseback riding lessons, boarding or training -- all part of the company's business proposal.

"There is the possibility that it (the county agricultural board's decision) could pre-empt the decision that it (the proposal) does not meet the definition of agricultural use," Brennan said.

The assertion seemed to bristle some zoning board members.

"I have to admit, as I just heard you make this statement, the hair went up on the back of my head," zoning board Chairman William Garro said.

A discussion concerning whether the county board needs to make a decision before the case can proceed before the zoning board took up about an hour at an earlier zoning board meeting, Garro said.

"If the applicant knows we are going to be pre-empted, why are they using our time?" Garro asked Friday.

Brennan agreed to the zoning board's request on Thursday for an extension of the 120-day period from the time McMullen-Blake appealed Bucceri's decision. That period would have expired June 14, forcing the board to make a decision before its next meeting on June 17. Garro said another extension may be needed.

The board will first hear other cases, which have been postponed to deal with the equestrian center application, at its next meeting, he said.

Zoning board member Edward Mainardi Jr. said the county agriculture board's purview was the land's deed restriction, not township ordinances.

"I don't see how we're bound by their decision," Mainardi said.

The county board last week voted 4-3 that the proposal meets the definition of agriculture in the deed that restricts the land as a preserved farm.

Frank Pinto, executive director of the CADB, said he did not know whether the county's decision would pre-empt the zoning board. Pinto said previously that the county board could not stop the project with its decision, but could have shut the facility down after the fact if the board decided it did not meet the definition of agriculture.

The township committee last week introduced an ordinance amending its land use laws to include equestrian facilities that provide boarding, breeding, caring, training, showing, buying, selling and brokering of horses, as well as training of horses and riders and handlers, as a "conditional accessory use to an agricultural use."

Mayor William Ford said the ordinance was introduced because there are a number of properties in the township that could be used as equestrian facilities.

The ordinance sets restrictions for proposed buildings and number of horses. It would allow no more than one horse per acre on usable land. The former Weiss farm measures about 58 acres, about 26 of which are wetlands.

Todd Maino, the prospective manager of the facility, said the equestrian center would house 40 horses owned by customers, 40 horses owned by the farm and 10 owned by McMullen-Blake and himself. The remaining 10 stalls would be left for expansion, Maino said.

Brennan said that Maino "is encouraging them (the township committee) to adopt a more reasonable proposal."

Brennan said the one-horse-per-acre rule pertains more to horses in pasture.

"So, for a horse that's going to be fed in a stable, it doesn't have any bearing," Brennan said. Maino will provide information supporting that opinion at future township committee meetings, she said.

Maino continued his testimony to the board Thursday night and also was questioned by neighbors who oppose the project.

"I'm not against this horse farm," said Kimberly Downes, a Valley Road resident. "I'm going to be right across the street from you. I'm against the size."

Downes and other neighbors questioned plans for hippotherapy, a form of physical therapy that involves horseback riding, as well as other activities on the facility.

"Do you know where you are going to be growing hay?" township resident Mary Lee Fulcher asked.

Maino said hay production for the facility is an issue that the county agriculture board and Rutgers Cooperative Extension were examining, but that both offices already had issued recommendations.

"They are proposing that we do not do hay production at this time, that we use the land for pasturing," Maino said.