Madison, WI Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

The A district sits at Madison's outer edge, covering land the Comprehensive Plan designates as rural agricultural, areas outside the Central Urban Service Area that lack municipal sanitary sewer and water and are still characterized by active farming, fields, meadows and woodlots. Sec. 28.092(1) states the district's dual purpose: sustaining agriculture and rural character in those outlying areas while urban growth continues around them, and separately encouraging community gardens, market gardens, and other small-scale agricultural operations closer in, as a matter of local food production and community health.

Permitted and conditional uses are set out in Table 28G-1, referenced by the section rather than restated in it. The dimensional standards in Sec. 28.092(3) split by use type. An agricultural use needs a minimum 5-acre lot with 300 feet of lot width, a 30-foot front setback, 80-foot side setbacks, and a 100-foot rear setback, with no maximum building height. Any other use permitted in the district needs a larger 10-acre minimum lot, the same 300-foot width and 30/80/100-foot setbacks, but is capped at two stories or 35 feet in height and 5% maximum lot coverage, a deliberate gap meant to keep non-farm buildings small relative to the land. Because the A district sits outside the City's sewer and water service area, most new buildings there rely on private wells and septic systems, subject to Dane County and state health regulations rather than City utility connections.