Rowan County, NC Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

Section 21-6 states plainly that this chapter shall not apply to bona fide farms, except that nonfarm uses on farms may be regulated by this chapter. S. S. 160D-903(a), the state provisions that anchor North Carolina's farm exemption from local zoning under Chapter 160D. Practically, a working farm in the RA, RR or any other district does not need a zoning permit, site plan, or setback approval from Planning and Development to plant crops, raise livestock, or build farm structures tied to that production, since Chapter 21 simply does not reach that activity.

The exemption narrows once the farm hosts a use that is not itself agricultural production, incidental storage, or processing, such as a commercial wedding venue, a retail farm store selling goods not grown on-site, or a manufacturing operation; those nonfarm activities on farm acreage fall back under the ordinary Section 21-113 table of uses for whatever district the property sits in. The Section 21-113 table separately lists agricultural production, crops and agricultural production, livestock and animal specialties as permitted by right across every zoning district, RA through IND, which functions as a backstop even where the Section 21-6 exemption might be read narrowly.