Gary, IN Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

Gary's zoning ordinance treats agriculture as a narrowly permitted accessory use rather than a protected right. Section 123-155(a)(3), in the chapter governing R1 and R1A One-Family Dwelling Districts, authorizes agricultural uses including nurseries and truck gardens outright, alongside single-family homes and elementary/high schools, but the same sentence excludes the raising of poultry or livestock and conditions the use on producing no offensive odor or dust and selling only products produced on the premises. Because Sec. 123-156(a) through Sec. 123-161(a) each define permitted uses in the R2 through R7 districts by cross-reference back to Sec.

123-155(a), this same restricted farming list, and its livestock and poultry ban, carries through every residential zoning district in the city; there is no separate agricultural or rural-residential district that relaxes it. Before any nursery, truck garden, or accessory farming activity can operate, the property owner needs the zoning certificate required by Sec. 123-34, issued by the director of the department of development and planning, confirming the use complies with the chapter; a certificate of occupancy under Sec. 123-35 is likewise required for any change in land use.

A zoning certificate or occupancy certificate issued in conflict with the provisions of this chapter shall be null and void under Sec. 123-34(a)(2), so an unauthorized coop or pen approved in error carries no protection. Enforcement runs through the city's general penalty at Sec. 1-7, which applies to violations of the Municipal Code generally.