Taunton, MA Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

Chapter 440's definitions article defines AGRICULTURE broadly at § 440-201: the use of land, buildings or structures for farming in all its branches, including floriculture, horticulture, viticulture, dairying, and the keeping and raising of poultry, swine, cattle and other domesticated animals for food, bees or fur-bearing animals, along with related forestry and lumbering work done by a farmer. The Table of Use Regulations under § 440-502(A)(1) then converts that definition into a use right: agricultural uses are a permitted use in all of Taunton's zoning districts, residential, business or industrial, with no special permit or site plan review required, but only where the lot is five acres or larger.

Below that threshold, keeping livestock or poultry is not addressed by this use-of-right provision and would need to be evaluated under whatever use classification the underlying structure or activity falls into, likely requiring a special permit from the Board of Appeals, Planning Board or Municipal Council depending on the district. The definitions article also recognizes a roadside stand as a permitted accessory agricultural use, letting a qualifying farm sell its own vegetable produce (plus Christmas trees and wreaths grown elsewhere) directly from the property. Because Massachusetts zoning runs under the Zoning Act, MGL c.

40A, and Taunton administers this chapter through the City Planner's office and the Zoning Enforcement Officer, a landowner planning to farm, raise livestock, or open a roadside stand on five-plus acres should confirm the parcel's acreage and district before starting, since the five-acre line is the dividing point between an as-of-right use and one that needs discretionary approval.