Lake County, CA Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

The ordinance, enacted by Ordinance No. 2736 on June 21, 2005 and amended by Ordinance No. 2975 in 2012, opens with a declared county policy under Section 3-40 to preserve agricultural land and reduce conflicts between agricultural and nonagricultural land uses. Its protection is not countywide: Section 3-41(a) defines 'agricultural land' as parcels specifically zoned Agricultural Preserve District (APZ), Agricultural District (A), Timberland Preserve District (TPZ), Rural Lands District (RL) or Rural Residential District (RR) under the Lake County Zoning Ordinance, so a farm operating outside those five zones does not receive the ordinance's nuisance protection.

5 carves out pear and apple orchards, which stay governed separately under the fire-blight and orchard-heater rules in Sections 3-1 through 3-15. The Lake County Community Development Department administers a mandatory Real Estate Transfer Disclosure Statement under Section 3-43, requiring sellers of property near agricultural land to disclose noise, odor, dust, chemical spraying and around-the-clock machinery use before a sale, lease or ground lease closes. Section 3-44 requires the ordinance be recorded with the Assessor-Recorder, displayed in that office, and mailed as a right-to-farm notice insert on the annual secured property tax bill by the Treasurer-Tax Collector, a practice that began with the 2014-2015 tax year; new residential building permit applicants also receive the notice from the Community Development Department.

Any dispute over an agricultural operation's noise, odors or hours can be referred to the five-member Agricultural Grievance Committee established under Section 3-45 before a lawsuit is filed.