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

Section 1.5(C)(1) states plainly: "This Ordinance shall in no way regulate, restrict, prohibit, or otherwise deter any bona fide farm and its related uses except that any use of such property for non-farm purposes may be subject to all regulations specified herein." Once land qualifies as a bona fide farm, the county's zoning permit tables, setback tables, and use standards in Articles 8 and 9 do not apply to farming and farm-related activity on it; only a non-farm use on that same parcel triggers full zoning review.

Section 1.5(C)(2) sets out how a property owner proves the exemption applies, accepting any one of four documents: a farm sales tax exemption certificate from the NC Department of Revenue, a county property tax listing showing eligibility for the present-use value program under NCGS 105-277.3, a copy of the owner's or operator's Schedule F from their most recent federal income tax return, or a forest management plan.

The Rural Agricultural (RA) base district, described in Section 7.4(B), backs this up on the land-use side: it exists "to maintain a rural development pattern that preserves the agricultural character of the county while accommodating limited low density (up to two dwelling units per acre) single-family residential development," and is meant "to protect rural areas from the intrusion of non-agricultural land uses that could create a nuisance, detract from the quality of life, and/or present a danger to the natural environment." RA is also the only base district exempted from the standard 50-percent accessory-structure size cap and from the county's Planned Residential Development program, keeping large-lot farm layouts intact.