Meriden, CT Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

Meriden zones farming as a discretionary use rather than a right. In the R-R Rural Residential District, § 213-16B lists 'crop and tree farming, keeping of farm animals' among the uses 'permitted subject to issuance of a special exception permit by the Zoning Board of Appeals in accordance with the requirements of § 213-73,' alongside places of worship, riding academies and membership clubs; the same clause exempts commercial fur-pelting operations, greenhouses and nurseries from that farming allowance. The identical special-exception language for crop and tree farming and keeping of farm animals is repeated verbatim for the S-R Suburban Residential District (§ 213-17B(2)(b)), the R-1 Single-Family District (§ 213-18B(2)(b)) and the R-2 Two- or Three-Family District (§ 213-19B(2)(b)), so a landowner must obtain ZBA approval in every residential district before establishing crop production or livestock keeping as its own principal use; no commercial or industrial district lists farming at all.

This differs from the smaller-scale, noncommercial keeping of poultry or a family's own horses, which § 213-16C treats as an accessory use requiring only a zoning permit, not a ZBA special exception. Operating a farming use without the special exception exposes the landowner to the same citation process, written 30-day notice and fines under § 213-71 that apply to any unauthorized zoning use, with farm-animal violations billed at a discounted $50-per-day rate rather than the general $150 rate.