Sampson County, NC Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

Under Sampson County Code § 2-37, adopted under N.C. General Statutes 106-735 through 106-743, the Board of Commissioners created a Voluntary Agricultural Districts program covering the unincorporated area within the county's five school districts. To qualify, farmland must participate in the present-use-value taxation program under G.S. 105-277.2 through 105-277.7, or otherwise meet those standards, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service must certify that at least two-thirds of the land carries soils suited to crop or forestry production. The owner also signs a conservation agreement barring non-farm development for at least ten years, with an exception for up to three lots that meet County subdivision rules.

A new district needs a minimum of 25 contiguous acres of qualified farmland, or two or more qualifying farms of at least 25 acres within a mile of each other. Applications go to the chairman of the seven-member Agricultural Board or designated staff; the Board tries to act within 30 days and notifies applicants by first-class mail, with a copy forwarded to the County Manager, Tax Assessor and Planning Board for comment. A denied applicant has 30 days to appeal in writing to the Board of Commissioners, whose decision is final.

Once enrolled, the county posts notice in land records and at the Register of Deeds warning buyers that farming, spraying, manure spreading and machinery operation may occur any time of day or night, and district farms are exempt from mandatory water and sewer connection assessments, held in abeyance without interest until the property connects. Developers of major subdivisions within a half mile of a district must show it on their preliminary plans, and the county cannot spend money to convert district land to non-farm use without first showing the Agricultural Board it considered alternatives.