Sandoval County, NM Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

Section 9(1)(B) lists the uses allowed by right in the RRA district, and item 4 covers agriculture: agricultural activities, including wineries as the Ordinance defines them, are permissive uses that require no Zoning Commission review, unlike the conditional uses listed later in the same section. The only conditions attached are aimed at nuisance prevention, not at limiting the scale or type of farming: areas devoted to livestock must be built and maintained to discourage the concentration and breeding of insects and rodents, and animal excrement can't be allowed to accumulate in excessive amounts.

Because the RRA district is the county's default zoning for any unmapped land, this by-right agricultural permission effectively covers most of unincorporated Sandoval County outside the mapped community districts and overlays. 2)(B)(2), such as a half-acre minimum for one large-livestock animal and a half-acre minimum allowing up to five medium-livestock animals, with additional animals scaled to lot size. A farmer who stays within the RRA's basic pest- and waste-control conditions needs no permit, no public hearing, and no filing fee to keep the operation running.