Greece, NY Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

Section 211-27 makes farming a permitted use in every zoning district in the Town of Greece, residential, business or industrial, with no special permit or site plan review required for the farming operation itself. The code backs that up with a working definition of "farm" in § 211-5: a lot or group of contiguous lots, owned or leased, comprising at least 10 acres and principally used to cultivate, process, store or sell agricultural products grown on site, unless the parcel otherwise qualifies as a farm operation under Article 25-AA of the New York State Agriculture and Markets Law.

Stables, stockyards and commercial feedlots are carved out of that definition and regulated separately under § 211-33. On top of the by-right agricultural use, § 211-27B lets a farm sell its own products from an accessory stand without extra zoning approval. The stand can also sell farm- and garden-related goods that weren't grown on site, but those resale items can't exceed 10% of the value of what the farm actually produced and sold there. Whatever structure houses the sales, stand, barn or retail building, its total gross floor area is capped at 2,000 square feet under § 211-27B(3).

Farm animals get a parallel exemption in § 211-33B: livestock customarily found on farms may be kept outdoors regardless of size, breed or species, as long as the animals are kept on a farm meeting the § 211-5 definition, distinguishing lawful farm livestock from the animal-keeping ban on ordinary residential lots.