York County does not regulate keeping horses, cattle, goats, pigs, or sheep. In Pennsylvania, whether livestock is allowed, minimum lot sizes, and setbacks are set by your borough, city, or township zoning ordinance under the Municipalities Planning Code, so rules vary sharply between rural townships and built-up boroughs.
Land use in Pennsylvania is municipal. Under the Municipalities Planning Code (Act 247, 53 P.S. §10101 et seq.), each borough, city, and township decides where livestock may be kept, on how large a lot, with what setbacks from lot lines and neighboring homes. Rural York County townships often allow livestock by-right in agricultural or rural-residential districts, while boroughs and suburban townships restrict or bar it. York County issues no livestock permits and sets no countywide head-count. Commercial farms with concentrated animals may fall under the state Agriculture, Communities and Rural Environment (ACRE) Act and nutrient-management law, but ordinary backyard livestock is governed by local zoning. The York County Conservation District handles related erosion, manure, and earth-disturbance issues under 25 Pa.
Keeping livestock where your municipal zoning prohibits it, or below the required lot size, is a zoning violation enforced by the borough or township zoning officer, with fines and orders to remove the animals. Manure runoff or earth-disturbance problems can
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
York County, PA
The York County Solid Waste Authority actively encourages backyard composting and mulch-mowing and runs a county yard-waste drop-off at the Resource Recovery...
York County, PA
York County has no rule on artificial turf. Whether synthetic grass is allowed, and any permit or stormwater requirement, is decided by your borough, city, o...
York County, PA
York County does not require or ban native-plant landscaping. Native meadows and pollinator gardens are legal and encouraged, but any 'natural landscaping' e...
York County, PA
Pennsylvania places no restriction on collecting rainwater, and York County does not ban it. Rain barrels and cisterns for garden use are legal statewide; la...
York County, PA
York County imposes no countywide lawn-watering restriction. Limits, if any, are set by your water supplier (such as the York Water Company) or your municipa...
York County, PA
York County has no countywide weed ordinance. Noxious weeds and overgrown vegetation are declared a nuisance and abated by your borough, the City of York, or...
See how York County's livestock rules stack up against other locations.
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