Kalamazoo, MI Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

Kalamazoo City Code § 50-4.4C(2) defines agriculture as the growing of food crops indoors or outdoors for personal use, donation or sale, and expressly excludes marihuana cultivation, which is regulated separately under § 50-4.4E and F. In districts where agriculture is permitted with development standards, the maximum lot size devoted to the use is 10,000 square feet. No special lot type standard applies unless a hoop house, greenhouse or farm stand is built, in which case the outdoor market lot type in § 50-5.6 governs. Sheds, garages and other secondary buildings tied to an agricultural use must follow the general accessory-structure standards in § 50-4.5B rather than any special agricultural exemption. Critically, the ordinance bars the use of outdoor farm machinery on these lots, an intensity limit that keeps agricultural use compatible with surrounding residential and commercial parcels. Community Planning and Economic Development reviews any site plan needed to establish agriculture as a use requiring development standards.