Right to Farm in Chelan County, WA (2026)

2 rules for unincorporated Chelan County, Washington.

Verified from official government sources

Note: These county rules apply to unincorporated areas of Chelan County. If you live within an incorporated city, that city's own rules apply: see the city list below.

Farm Nuisance Protection

Chelan County Code Chapter 5.36 shields any farm operation that follows accepted agricultural practices from being called a public or private nuisance. The protection covers noise, odors, dust, spraying, and machinery use, and it survives even after neighboring land changes hands or use around the farm changes.

Chelan County Right-to-Farm Protection

Few Restrictions

Chelan County Code § 5.36.020

A farm operation shall not be found to be a public or private nuisance if the farm or farm operation conforms to generally accepted agricultural and management practices.

Full ordinance details →Official source ↗

Agricultural Zoning Protection

Unincorporated Chelan County zones its working farmland as Commercial Agricultural Lands (AC) under Chelan County Code § 11.30.020, which sets a ten-acre minimum lot size, a thirty-five-foot height cap, and a mandatory one-hundred-foot setback keeping new houses away from neighboring AC-zoned cropland and orchards.

Commercial Agricultural Zoning in Chelan County

Some Restrictions

Chelan County Code § 11.30.020

All development in this zone shall meet the applicable provisions of the Chelan County Code, including without limitation the following: ... (1) Minimum lot size: ten acres, which measures to the centerline of adjoining public rights-of-way, which may be modified one time for: ... (6) Setbacks from Agriculture. No new dwelling unit shall be placed within one hundred feet of a property zoned as ...

Full ordinance details →Official source ↗

All Chelan County ordinances

See every category we cover for Chelan County: parking, noise, fences, fires, animals, pools, and more.

Chelan County Ordinance Hub →