Hamilton County, TN Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

Article IV, Section 100 of the Zoning Regulations sets out the A-1 Agricultural District. Its Use Regulations at Section 101, Principal Uses Permitted, list as item (1) 'Agricultural uses such as the growing of crops, dairying, grazing, the raising and maintaining of poultry and livestock, horticulture, viticulture, floriculture, forest and woods,' and add that 'the raising of fur-bearing animals, fish and minnow hatcheries, riding academies, livery or boarding stables, dog kennels and other similar enterprises' are also permissible agricultural uses. A farm stand up to 200 square feet selling produce grown on the premises is separately allowed by right under item (3).

These are principal uses, the same category as single-family dwellings, so a farm in A-1 needs no special permit from the Regional Planning Commission or County Commission the way many other uses in the district do. The district's Area Regulations at Section 102 cap density at two dwelling units per acre and set a 25,000-square-foot minimum lot on wells and septic, keeping A-1 land in large, low-density parcels rather than subdividing it into residential tracts. The Zoning Regulations were recodified May 21, 2014 by Resolution No. 514-32 and have been amended repeatedly since, most recently through Resolution 825-27 in August 2025.