Laredo, TX Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

Section 24-65.1 of the Laredo Land Development Code sets the AG (agricultural district) apart from every residential and commercial zone in the city. The purpose clause at Section 24-62.2 states the district exists to provide an area for agricultural pursuits protected from infringement of urban development, language that functions as Laredo's closest equivalent to a right-to-farm protection: rather than letting subdivisions push against working land parcel by parcel, the city drew a dedicated zoning boundary around it.

Inside the AG district, a one-family residence, a manufactured housing unit, a duplex, or two residences on a single lot are permitted, but only if the dwelling sits on a tract equal to or greater than ten acres. That ten-acre floor is the mechanism that keeps AG land from being chopped into standard residential lots: any owner who wants to subdivide below that threshold has to seek a zone change through the Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council rather than build by right.

The code also names accessory uses tied to the farm operation itself: barns, corrals, silos, and equipment storage sheds are permitted outright as accessory to the agricultural use, without a separate use permit. That list distinguishes AG from Laredo's residential districts, where the same structures would need a variance or fall under home-occupation limits.

Because AG is a base zoning district rather than an overlay, any change to it, including a rezoning application to convert AG land to a residential or commercial district, goes through the same public hearing and Planning and Zoning Commission review as any other zone change request in the Land Development Code.