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

Section 154.002-04 of the county's Development Ordinance tracks G.S. § 160D-903: any property used for a bona fide farm purpose, as defined in § 154.003-02, is exempt from the county's zoning regulations, including its Rural Agricultural (RA) district standards, for activities such as growing crops, grains, fruits, vegetables, ornamental and flowering plants, dairy, livestock and poultry operations, and all other agriculture defined in G.S. § 106-581.1. The exemption extends to a farm's existing or new residence built to the applicable residential building code and occupied by the farm's owner, lessee, or operator, plus other buildings supporting the farm operation.

It does not exempt non-farm uses of the same property from zoning review. A landowner can document bona fide farm status with any one of four kinds of proof: a Department of Revenue farm sales tax exemption certificate, a property tax listing showing eligibility for the present-use value program under G.S. § 105-277.3, a Schedule F from the operator's most recent federal tax return, or a forest management plan. If a structure loses that documentation for three continuous years, § 154.002-04(B) subjects it to whatever zoning and development regulations the county has adopted under G.S. § 160D-702 as of the date the farm exemption lapsed.

The ordinance also folds in agritourism, defined broadly to include weddings, receptions, meetings, and farm-activity demonstrations held on the farm because of its rural setting, as a protected bona fide farm use under division (C).