Allegany County, MD Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

Chapter 210, Agricultural Land Preservation, was adopted by the Board of County Commissioners on October 5, 1979 by Bill No. 4-79, effective November 19, 1979. Section 210-1 authorizes Agricultural Preservation Districts under the Agriculture Article, Title 2, §§ 2-501 through 2-515, of the Annotated Code of Maryland, and lists four protections that apply once land is enrolled: any farm use of the land is permitted; farm machinery may be operated at any time in production or primary processing of agricultural products; normal agricultural activities conducted under good husbandry practices, including the noise and odor they typically produce, are treated as permitted and preferred so long as they do not cause bodily injury or directly endanger human health; and farm products may be sold on the farm where they are produced.

Section 210-2 requires the County to maintain official maps of every Agricultural Preservation District at the Allegany County Planning and Zoning Commission office, revised as boundaries change and made current at least once a year by June 30, published at the same scale as the Department of Assessment and Taxation tax maps. Section 210-3 sets the enrollment mechanism: a district is only established once the County Commissioners receive formal notification through a Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation District Agreement signed by all parties and recorded among the Allegany County land records, with the signed agreement and property descriptions kept on file and available from the Planning and Zoning Commission in the County Office Building.