Animal sanctuary at the Jersey Shore fighting to stay open amid zoning issue

An animal sanctuary at the Jersey Shore is in jeopardy after confusion over local zoning designations.

Charlotte Farms Animal Sanctuary in Berkely Township is a safe haven away from harm caused by humans.

Rescued goats, cows and emus are among the 200 formerly abused, neglected, or abandoned animals living at the farm.

Now Charlotte Farms managing member David Battat says the sanctuary is fighting to survive after a township zoning issue recently came to light.

"They have every ability to shut us down. And if they do shut us down, these animals really have nowhere to go," Battat told NBC10.

The non-profit bought the site of a former farm and moved here from Toms River in April of last year, but in June, Battat said they learned the property is actually in a residential zone and got this summons for failing to get zoning approval for a change of use. The township is now forcing them to seek a variance to stay put.

“It's really just frustrating, like, what, what we're going through,” said Battat.

Battat added that the sanctuary would have to spend more than 20,000 dollars on a lawyer and engineer, adding mounting expenses to the already high cost of caring for a growing number of residents.

"It's really become a huge, huge expense for us…at this point, we needed to reach out to the public to help support us,” Battat said.

Those who run the sanctuary said their decision to purchase the property was partially based on the township’s tax map which labeled it as farmland.

Current tax records show the site has a farm facility in a residential zone. The sanctuary’s status is expected to come before the zoning board in the next few months.

"We're worried that when we do go down there and spend that money, they're going to tell us we need something else," Battat said.

For more information about Charlotte Farms, visit charlottefarms.org.

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