Apple Valley, CA Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

The Apple Valley Development Code carves out zoning districts specifically to keep agriculture viable inside town limits, rather than folding farming into ordinary residential zones. 020(B) creates the Residential Agriculture (R-A) district 'to provide the continued operation of those agricultural uses in areas previously zoned for agricultural by the County in the vicinity of the Deep Creek area,' with a minimum lot size of two and one-half gross acres per dwelling unit and both single-family residential and commercial agricultural uses allowed. That district implements the General Plan's Low Density Residential designation, which runs two and one-half to five gross acres per dwelling unit.

020(A) sets aside the Very Low Density Residential (R-VLD) district, at a five-acre-per-unit minimum, as land 'suited for agriculture, animal keeping and equestrian uses,' though the code notes those uses must run at low intensity there because of environmental constraints or a lack of services. 030 sets the operating standards, such as building setbacks, once a property qualifies under the zoning map. A property owner researching whether a parcel can be farmed commercially, boarded with livestock, or kept as acreage needs to confirm which of these two districts, or the related Estate Residential and Equestrian Residential districts, applies to that specific parcel before relying on any agricultural use.