Muncie, IN Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

Sec. 150.45, 'Permitted uses,' opens Division 4, the F Farming Zone, of Muncie's zoning code. It permits single-family dwellings regulated under Sections 150.47 through 150.53, and separately permits field crops, dairies, tree crops, flower gardening, nurseries, orchards, farms for hatching, raising, and selling chickens, hogs, cattle, and turkeys or other poultry, horse grazing, breeding, and training operations, sheep raising, and fisheries. Any livestock building or structure must sit at least 200 feet from a side or rear property line and meet the zone's setback standards at Sections 150.48 and 150.52.

Roadside stands are allowed if limited to agricultural products, capped at 200 square feet, and set back at least 20 feet from any right-of-way. Sec. 150.46 separately lets the Delaware-Muncie Metropolitan Board of Zoning Appeals approve special uses in the Farming Zone, including mineral extraction, salvage yards, home occupations, seasonal work camps, and private outdoor camps, each subject to its own performance standards elsewhere in the chapter. Because farming and related agricultural buildings are listed as permitted, by-right uses rather than legal nonconforming uses, a farm operating within the F zone is not subject to the one-year discontinuance rule at Sec.

150.24(C) that applies to a true nonconforming use, giving working farms inside city zoning jurisdiction the same by-right protection city residential and commercial uses enjoy in their own districts. The provision traces to Code of 1968 § 130.61 and Ord. No. 67-83, adopted September 12, 1983.