Porter County, IN Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

Under Chapter 2 of the county's Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), effective June 15, 2007, the A1 General Agriculture District is "intended to be used as follows" for "existing agricultural land" and to "recognize the need for reasonable development standards to maximize protection of agricultural practices" (UDO Sec. 07). The district permits, without a hearing, agricultural crop production, farmsteads, hobby farming, orchards, tree farms, vineyards, private stables, raising of farm and exotic animals, and storage or sale of agricultural products, plus a single-family detached dwelling and seasonal housing for farm workers.

A landowner who instead wants a kennel, a large commercial stable, a telecommunications facility, a bed and breakfast, or a subordinate single-family dwelling on A1 land must obtain a Special Exception from the Board of Zoning Appeals, which UDO Sec. " UDO Sec. 08 sets the A1 development standards: a minimum lot area of 10 acres, minimum lot width of 160 feet, a 50-foot minimum front setback, 30-foot minimum side setback, a 30-foot rear setback for the primary structure (15 feet for accessory structures), maximum impervious surface coverage of 35% of the lot area, and a 1,000-square-foot minimum dwelling size.

The Porter County Plan Commission handles rezonings and development-plan review; the Board of Zoning Appeals hears variances and special exceptions. This is a zoning-based protection of agricultural land use, not a nuisance-immunity statute: the UDO text contains no separate "right to farm" clause, so protection from neighbor nuisance suits over farm operations would come from Indiana's own Right to Farm Act, not from this county ordinance. Because the UDO was adopted in 2007 with no later amendment shown in Chapter 2, verify current acreage and setback minimums with the Plan Commission before relying on them for a specific parcel.