Springfield, OH Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

Chapter 1109.01 of the Zoning Code establishes the Agriculture (R-AG) District, whose stated purpose is to preserve large tracts of undeveloped land for agricultural pursuits and to provide open space or intended managed growth areas in which agricultural uses continue until municipal services are extended for more intensive development; the section specifically says the district "protects agricultural areas from the encroachment of urban and suburban development" and reflects the Rural/Agricultural and Park and Recreation character areas in the Clark County Comprehensive Plan. Permitted uses in R-AG are governed by the citywide Table 1104.03.1 Use Table referenced in subsection (b).

Table 1109.01.1 sets the district's dimensional floor: an 8-acre minimum lot area, a 300-foot minimum lot width, and a 50-foot minimum lot depth, with no maximum lot building coverage specified. Setbacks are a 5-foot minimum front yard, a 20-foot minimum rear yard, and 5-foot minimum side and corner side yards, and buildings top out at 35 feet. Development in the district also has to satisfy the site development standards cross-referenced in the table, including Chapter 1115 Dimensional Regulations, Chapter 1120 Screening and Fencing, and Chapter 1124 Animal Regulations.

Springfield's code does not contain a separate right-to-farm nuisance-immunity statute; the R-AG district itself is the city's mechanism for shielding working farmland from residential and commercial encroachment inside the corporate limits.