Pacifica, CA Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

Article 19 of the Zoning Code, Sec. 1901, establishes the Agricultural District (A) as a combining district layered onto an existing zone; every use permitted in the A District is also subject to whatever base district it is combined with for height, lot size, setbacks and coverage. Subsection (a) permits all agricultural uses outright, without a use permit or site development permit, except cultivation of cannabis as defined in Article 48 and except hog ranches, and it allows a ranch or farm dwelling appurtenant to the agricultural use.

Subsection (b) adds, on top of whatever uses the combined base district already allows, animal husbandry and small livestock farming capped at one animal per 16,000 square feet of building site, crop and tree farming (again excluding cannabis cultivation), viticulture, home occupations, and the keeping of up to twenty-four chickens or similar birds, or rabbits or similar animals, all without a discretionary permit. Subsection (c) moves additional animals or birds on parcels over two acres, labor camps, kennels, on-site product sales, riding academies and trout farms into the permit-required column, meaning both a use permit and a site development permit are required before those more intensive activities can begin.

Subsection (d) allows one single-family dwelling as a conditional use, built to the combined base district's standards, and subsection (e) makes public parks a flat permitted use in the A District. The maximum structure height in the district is capped at thirty-six feet across every use category listed. Because the A District is a combining designation, a parcel's actual lot size, setback and coverage numbers come from whichever base zone it is paired with, not from Article 19 itself.