Aiken County, SC Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

Section 24-2.2(1) of the Aiken County Code establishes the Agricultural Preservation (AP) District specifically "to conserve, sustain, and protect from premature urban encroachment rural areas and resources, particularly agricultural and forested lands," while maintaining "a balanced rural-urban environment without interfering with the entrepreneurial abilities and endeavors of local residents." The ordinance states that farmland and farming operations are "even more essential from an economic perspective" than the district's environmental role, and expressly protects "the right of rural property owners to conduct owner based entrepreneurial businesses."

Table 1 of the zoning ordinance backs that intent with by-right permissions: crop production (NAICS 111) and livestock operations (NAICS 112111) are both marked "P," permitted by right, in the AP District, though livestock use requires a parcel of at least three acres under Table 1 note (j). Hog and pig farming (NAICS 1122) is likewise permitted by right on AP land. To keep commercial activity from overwhelming the district's rural character, Table 1 note (i) caps any commercial business permitted in AP at "no more than twelve (12) employees, including fulltime and part-time employees, contract workers, and family member/residents of the property."

Lot standards reinforce the low-density intent: Table 2 sets a two-acre minimum lot size in AP under note (Q), and limits small subdivisions carved from AP land to ten or fewer lots, which cannot later be expanded without rezoning to a higher-density district. Manufacturing uses permitted in AP must sit at least 100 feet from any property line under Table 2 note (P).