Navajo County, AZ Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

The Board of Supervisors zones most of the county's open land A-General under Article 3, and Section 301 states its purpose is to provide for all unincorporated areas of the county not otherwise designated for a specific zone, naming farm and non-farm residential uses first among the permitted uses. Section 302 lists farming-related permitted uses a landowner in the A-General district can pursue without a Special Use Permit: farms as defined in Article 23, all agricultural uses including production, harvesting, curing, processing, packaging and shipping, and roadside stands offering only farm products grown on the same premises.

A property owner can also keep public riding or boarding stables on at least ten acres with animal buildings set back at least 100 feet, run corrals for horses at 600 square feet per horse set back the same distance required for accessory buildings, and operate a feed store on at least two and a half acres. Commercial feed lots, by contrast, need a discretionary Special Use Permit under the district's separate list. Because Section 205 defaults any newly annexed or unzoned county land to the A-General district until a rezoning hearing is held, a farm operation on annexed land keeps its footing under these same rules.

A use the Director considers similar in nature and impact to a listed farm use may also be approved administratively, but the property owner carries the burden of proving that similarity by clear and convincing evidence.