Catoosa County, GA Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

Catoosa County's UDC Table 2-1 lists PCFD ahead of the general A-1 Agricultural District and the R-A Residential-Agricultural District as the county's most protective farm zone. Section 2.02.02.A ties PCFD to genuine, ongoing agriculture: the code says the district is not meant for small-scale farming or idle pasture, land better suited to A-1, and that PCFD land "should be in use for legitimate good-faith farming or agricultural uses worthy of protection and preservation." To rezone into PCFD, a parcel must currently sit in A-1, meet the district's minimum lot size and carry an active enrollment in the state's House Bill 230 Preferential Agricultural Assessment/Conservation Use Taxation Plan or House Bill 66.

Table 2-4's dimensional standards set PCFD tracts at 35 acres total, with each parcel or farm within a PCFD tract required to hold at least 10 acres, a 150-foot minimum lot width and a 50-foot rear setback; PCFD and PUD are also the only districts exempt from the county's 40-foot major-street front setback and its 100-foot major-corridor setback under Section 2.04.02.D and E. Livestock housing, silos, barns and similar farm structures concurrent with an agricultural operation must sit at least 50 feet from any property line and 200 feet from a neighbor's residence under Section 2.04.02.H.

Because PCFD status is tied to active use, the Board of Commissioners keeps ongoing oversight: Planning and Zoning enforces the classification, and the Board can trigger a new rezoning review any time PCFD land stops functioning as intensive commercial agriculture.