New Berlin, WI Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

Chapter 275, Article IV creates the A-1 Agricultural District and the A-2 Agricultural and Rural Holding District under section 275-32. The A-1 District is meant to maintain, enhance and preserve agricultural lands used for crop production and livestock, and to prevent conversion of agricultural land to urban uses ahead of the timeline set by the City's Comprehensive Plan. The A-2 District serves the same preservation purpose but for land in interim general farming or open-space use that is not yet slated for urban development.

Table 275-32-1 lists agribusiness, artisan farming, general farm buildings, keeping and raising of animals, paddocks and raising of crops as principal (by-right) uses in both A-1 and A-2, alongside single-family detached dwellings; bed-and-breakfasts, wineries and breweries, and small restaurants or cafes are allowed conditionally. Worker housing is conditional in A-1 but prohibited outright in A-2.

Dimensional standards in Table 275-32-2 require a minimum five-acre lot in A-1 (ten acres in A-2), 330 feet of lot width, and 50-foot front, 25-foot side and 50-foot rear setbacks, with a 75-foot Ordinary High Water Mark setback and a 10- or 30-foot wetland setback depending on when the lot was platted. Dwellings are capped at 35 feet and farm structures at 60 feet, with one additional foot of yard required for every foot a farm building exceeds 35 feet. Buildings housing animals must stay at least 50 feet from any abutting residential lot of two acres or less, and no principal building next to a single-family district may sit closer than 50 feet to that district boundary, protections that function as the city's buffer against farm/residential conflict rather than a freestanding right-to-farm statute.