Decatur, AL Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

In the City of Decatur, Alabama, agriculture is a zoning district, not a nuisance-law shield. Sec. 25-8 lists the AG-1 and AG-2 Agricultural Districts, and Sec. 25-12.1 sets their rules. AG-1 allows general farming including horticulture, dairying, apiaries, livestock and poultry raising and fish hatcheries, along with accessory buildings customarily incidental to those uses and any use allowed in an R-1 residential district. The minimum lot is 15,000 square feet and 100 feet wide at the building line, with yards of 20 feet in front, 45 feet in the rear and 15 feet on the sides. Any structure used for the housing of livestock must stay at least 100 feet from any property line or from the line of a district that is not agricultural. Height tops out at 35 feet or 2½ stories, though Sec. 25-15 exempts barns, silos and farm structures from height limits.

AG-2 takes every AG-1 use and adds uses permitted on appeal: roadside stands (provided no part of the structure or goods display encroaches on a public right-of-way), livestock sales, manufacture and processing of natural resources indigenous to Decatur, table wine made by a vineyard owner dedicating at least five acres to grapes, event venues, and antique or craft shops. Under Sec. 25-13, a use permitted on appeal gets no permit without written approval from the board of zoning adjustment, which sets conditions, while permitted uses proceed on application to the building inspector. Residential, commercial and industrial uses not specifically permitted or permitted on appeal are prohibited in both districts.

The code as exported contains no right-to-farm clause. Keeping animals in residential areas rests on zoning use rules alone: the R-1E estate district allows horses on lots of five acres or more at two for the first five acres and one for each additional acre (Sec. 25-10.7).