Owensboro, KY Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

Section 8.11 of Appendix F, the joint Owensboro-Daviess County Zoning Ordinance, splits agricultural land into two zones descended from the original A-1 Agriculture Zone. The A-U Urban Agriculture Zone covers land inside the Owensboro Urban Service Area that is projected for eventual urban development, plus areas surrounding rural communities and Whitesville; the ordinance treats a rezoning from A-U to a more urban classification as something "encouraged for projects that promote the objectives of the Comprehensive Plan Land Use Element." The A-R Rural Agriculture Zone instead covers the Daviess County Rural Service Area and exists specifically "to preserve the rural character" of that area "by promoting agriculture and agricultural-related uses, and by discouraging all forms of urban development except for rural residential and limited conditional uses." A rezoning out of A-R is described as something that "would deprecate the objectives of the Comprehensive Plan" unless it involves land- and resource-dependent uses such as mining or forestry.

Both agriculture zones carry a larger minimum lot size than most residential zones: the A-R zone requires at least one acre where sanitary sewer is unavailable, and other zones without sewer service require at least three-quarters of an acre. Agriculture, horticulture, and silviculture industries beyond ordinary farming are only conditionally permitted in A-R and A-U, on parcels of at least twenty-five acres outside the Urban Service Area, and any associated structure is capped at 20,000 square feet, with 50,000 square feet total for all structures on the site, and staffing limited to 30 employees unless the site sits on a state-classified road, in which case the cap rises to 100 employees.