Baytown, TX Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

Subsec. 33-2(A) of the ULDC sets the baseline for keeping farm animals inside city limits: any residential zoning district on the Consolidated Use Table requires a minimum lot size of one acre before livestock, rabbits, fowl, bees, or beehives can be kept on the property. The ULDC does not stop at the acreage threshold; it expressly folds in Chapter 14 and Chapter 42, Article V of the Code of Ordinances for the animal-keeping specifics (numbers of head, enclosure, and care standards), so the ULDC and the general code work together rather than one replacing the other.

Because the standard is written into the use-specific standards for 'Agriculture and Animal Service Uses,' it applies uniformly across every residential district carried on the Consolidated Use Table, not just the rural-leaning Estate Residential (ER) district; Planning and Development Services applies it at site plan review and building permit stage whenever a residential lot proposes an agricultural or animal-keeping use. A lot under one acre is not eligible for a livestock, rabbit, fowl, bee, or beehive use regardless of the district's other dimensional standards, and there is no variance track written into this subsection itself: an applicant on an undersized lot has to find a use that fits, seek a Board of Adjustments variance under the ULDC's general procedure, or pursue rezoning.