Planning and Zoning Law Bulletin #37

In North Carolina certain farm activities and farm buildings enjoy exemptions from specific local development regulations. Land use zoning does not apply to bona fide farm activities in county jurisdiction and in municipal extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ). Building rules, such as the State Building Code, do not apply to some farm buildings, depending upon the type of building and applicable jurisdiction. And there are specific protections from local development regulations for forestry, beekeeping, farm operator housing, and certain other agricultural land uses.

The basic concept is straightforward: Building and development rules should not infringe on certain farm activities. But, as is often the case, the devil is in the details. The precise scope of the bona fide farm exemption is complicated. Statutory definitions and relevant caselaw help to clarify what counts and what does not count as “agriculture,” but significant ambiguity remains.

This bulletin outlines the bona fide farm exemption from land use zoning, explores the wide-ranging definitions of bona fide farm purposes and agriculture, summarizes the building-rule exemption for farm buildings, and surveys other aspects of regulatory relief for agricultural activities.