Lancaster, CA Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

185, 'Grazing,' clarifies where the light agricultural uses permitted as an accessory use under Sec. 050 apply. 5 and RR-1 zones, the city's two most rural residential zoning designations, and covers sheep, goats, cattle and similar animals. The ordinance is a use standard describing how and where grazing may occur inside those two zones, not a stand-alone permitted use available elsewhere. 5 and RR-1, grazing is conditioned on several requirements. Free-range grazing of animal herds is prohibited within the city limits altogether, meaning herds must be confined rather than allowed to roam.

All grazing must occur on land owned by the herder or on land where the property owner has given express written permission, and the animals must be controlled so they cannot stray onto property where grazing has not been authorized. The owner of the grazing animals bears responsibility for moving them regularly so they do not strip a parcel of all vegetation; if overgrazing triggers dust problems, the animal owner or property owner must implement dust-control measures that satisfy both the municipal code and the Antelope Valley Air Quality Management District's rules.

The section also lets alternative-energy developments, such as solar facilities, use sheep to control vegetation growth inside their fenced boundaries, subject to the same ownership, permission, control and dust-management conditions that apply to any other grazing use in the rural zones. Because grazing is treated as accessory to the underlying agricultural or rural residential use rather than a stand-alone permitted use elsewhere in the city, it is unavailable in the SRR, R, MDR and HDR zones.