Grant County, WA Building Setbacks & Zoning: Setback Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- UDO § 23.12.070(k)(1)
- Buffer from ag use in Rural Lands
- 60 feet
- Buffer from AG-zoned lot
- 100 feet
- Buffer from MRO-zoned lot
- 100 feet
- Exception
- Pre-existing dwellings before UDC effective date
Summary
Grant County's Unified Development Code layers a special buffer setback on top of the base zone setback whenever a residential lot borders farmland or mineral land: 60 feet from commercial agriculture in rural zones, and 100 feet from land zoned Agricultural or Mineral Resource Overlay.
(k)Special Setback from Agricultural (AG) and Mineral Resource Overlay (MRO) Zoning Districts: To provide a buffer between resource lands or uses and adjacent non-resource land uses, the following additional setback shall apply.(1)Where any existing or proposed lot borders on a parcel zoned Agricultural (AG) or Mineral Resource Overlay (MRO), a building setback for all residential land uses and other especially sensitive land uses, including schools, day care facilities, medical facilities such as hospitals, clinics and convalescent care facilities, outdoor recreational facilities, and similar uses, is required from the adjoining resource land or use as follows:(A)Sixty (60) feet from any adjoining lot containing a commercial agricultural use in a Rural Lands zoning district;(B)One hundred (100) feet from an Agricultural (AG) zoned lot, except when a lot is being created around a dwelling unit that existed prior to the effective date of this UDC;(C)One hundred (100) feet from a Mineral Resource Land (MRO) zoned lot, except when a lot is being created around a dwelling unit that existed prior to the effective date of this UDC.
Full Breakdown
08. ' Under (k)(1), whenever a lot borders a parcel zoned Agricultural or Mineral Resource Overlay, any residential use or other sensitive use on the neighboring lot, the list explicitly names schools, day care facilities, hospitals, clinics, convalescent facilities, and outdoor recreational facilities, must sit back from that resource-zoned line. The distances are tiered by what is next door: 60 feet from an adjoining lot with a commercial agricultural use in a Rural Lands district, and a full 100 feet from a lot actually zoned Agricultural or Mineral Resource Overlay.
Both 100-foot buffers carry the same built-in exception: they do not apply when a lot is being created around a dwelling that already existed before the UDC took effect, so older farmhouses are not retroactively pushed into nonconformance by a rule written to protect the resource land around them, not the house itself.
Violations & Fines
A land division or building permit application that places a residential or other sensitive use closer than the required 60- or 100-foot buffer to adjoining Agricultural or Mineral Resource Overlay land, without qualifying for the pre-existing-dwelling exception, does not meet § 23.12.070(k) and is returned or denied by Development Services during plat or site plan review; an approved plat built in violation is enforceable under the UDC's general code enforcement process.
Frequently Asked Questions
How far must a house be from farmland in unincorporated Grant County?
Does the farmland setback apply to schools and clinics too?
Is there an exception to the 100-foot farmland setback?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Grant County
Compare Grant County to another location·View the Washington building setbacks & zoning overview
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