Oconee County, SC Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

6 of the Zoning Ordinance establishes the Agriculture District, describing it as covering areas where rural lifestyles have traditionally been, and continue to be, intertwined with agricultural activity and production that carries significant economic weight for the county. The stated intent of the district is to protect farmland while still ensuring enough residential and commercial development opportunity to serve the people who live there, striking a balance rather than freezing the area to farm use only. 16 rather than by a free-standing right-to-farm statute; the county's code does not include a separate nuisance-immunity provision for farm operations.

1, uses listed as permitted by right in the AD district get administrative review and approval against the district's own standards, conditional uses add the requirements in Article 5, and special exceptions require a hearing before the Board of Zoning Appeals. Because zoning in the county is partial, AD only governs parcels the county council has actually mapped into that district; land still sitting in the unzoned Control Free District is not subject to the AD standards at all.