Lexington County, SC Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

Section 21.10 of the Lexington County Zoning Ordinance, rewritten in its entirety by Ord. No. 23-17 on June 25, 2024, defines Agricultural Operations to include keeping, grazing, or feeding animals for animal products or increase in value; raising trees, vines, field, forage, or other plant crops for food or fiber; and cultivating horticultural specialties such as flowers, shrubs, turf, and ornamental plants for sale. That single definition covers everything from row crops to poultry houses across the county's zoning districts, including the RA (Recreational/Agricultural) district established under § 11.41.

The ordinance then carves agricultural animal operations out of local land-use control: poultry and swine farms are governed exclusively by state law and SCDHEC regulations. The Zoning Administrator's office reviews only the structures built to support the operation, not the farming activity, feeding schedules, animal counts, or odor and waste management, all of which fall to SCDHEC's state permitting program instead. Support functions built around a farm, office space, retail sales, packaging, or shipping, are not swept into this carve-out; § 21.10 requires those ancillary uses to meet the zoning requirements of whatever land use category they fall under, the same as any other business.

A zoning permit is still required before any qualifying farm structure is built, per § 171.10, and the permit is valid for two years with up to five one-year extensions. There is no acreage minimum or maximum tied to the Agricultural Operations classification itself.