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

1, in Chapter 3, Applicability, states flatly that the ordinance does not apply to bona fide farms or to agricultural and farm buildings as defined, though non-farm uses located on a farm may still be regulated. 26 fills in the mechanics for uses listed on the Table of Uses: a use must first meet the ordinance's definition of a bona fide farm, which the UDO's definitions table ties to North Carolina General Statutes beginning at NCGS 160D-903. Once qualified, bona fide farming uses are exempt from all zoning requirements in the UDO, may have more than one principal structure on the tract, and may have accessory structures without any principal structure present at all.

Two limits survive the exemption: the maximum height of any residential structure on the farm must still conform to the underlying zoning district's requirements, and a produce stand tied to the farming use is allowed in any zoning district regardless of whether stands are otherwise permitted there, as long as its parking stays off the public right-of-way. S. 153A-340(b) (§ 13-60(1)).