Mebane, NC Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

Mebane's Unified Development Ordinance splits farm regulation by geography. Inside Section 3-1, Establishment of Zoning Districts, the UDO tells landowners in the city's extraterritorial jurisdiction that a bona fide farm use is exempt from the ordinance altogether, pointing directly to N.C.G.S. 160D-903(c) as the state authority behind the carve-out. Inside the corporate limits, the UDO reaches a similar practical result a different way: Section 2-9, Permit Exemptions, excuses farm buildings used for bona fide farm purposes from the zoning permit the City otherwise requires under Section 2-7 before any development activity begins.

The exemption is not unlimited. The UDO's Table 4-1-1 use table separately lists 'Bona fide farm operation except commercial feeder/breeder operation' as its own use category, signaling that commercial feeder and breeder operations fall back under normal zoning review even on farmland, and swine farm buildings are named out of the Section 2-9 exemption entirely. Any structure or activity that strays into nonfarm use, such as a farm building converted to a store or workshop, loses the exemption and must go through the Zoning Administrator for a standard zoning permit under Section 2-7 like any other development.

The Planning and Zoning Department administers both sections, and a farm owner who is unsure whether an activity still qualifies as bona fide farm use should confirm with that office before building.