Avondale, AZ Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

Section 28-31(A) of the zoning ordinance designates the Agricultural (AG) District specifically to allow agricultural, ranching and related uses within the city, adding that the district also serves as a holding zoning for land until suitable for rezoning and development. That dual purpose means AG parcels function as working farmland today and as a rezoning reserve for future subdivisions. The Section 28-32 land use matrix backs the purpose language with specific permissions: farming, greenhouses, plant nurseries, and retailing or wholesaling of farm products grown on-site are all permitted by right in AG, along with the raising and keeping of farm animals and commercial ranches or stables for horses.

Two larger agricultural operations get extra scrutiny: a dairy farm is allowed only with conditions and a minimum forty-acre site, and a cattle feedlot needs the same forty-acre minimum plus conditions approval, both reviewed under Section 28-33 uses permitted with conditions. Community gardens of one acre or less are permitted outright in every residential district, not just AG. None of these AG permissions extend automatically to the six other residential district categories: RR-43 and RR-18 keep only limited agricultural allowances, and farming, dairy operations and feedlots are prohibited outright in the R1-35 through R1-5 suburban and urban districts. Anyone buying land expecting to farm should confirm the parcel's actual zoning designation with Development Services before assuming AG-level agricultural rights apply.