Troup County, GA Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

Troup County's Unified Development Ordinance establishes AG, agricultural district, as land "intended primarily for agricultural and related accessory uses serviced by septic sewer systems, individual wells, and/or community water systems located in undeveloped areas of the County" (UDO Appendix B Sec. 2.2). The Table of Permitted and Prohibited Uses at Sec. 6.1 lists Commercial Agriculture, Farming, and Forestry as a permitted principal use outright in the AG and AG-R districts and in the LI and HI industrial districts, while SU-R, LR, and SU-VL require a Special Use Permit under Sec.

12.7 instead. Non-commercial agriculture, farming, fishing, and hunting carry no such gate and are permitted across AG, AG-R, SU-R, LR, SU-VL, LI, and HI. Sec. 7.4, Agricultural uses, is the operative standard: commercial agriculture and forestry operations must keep a minimum 25-foot buffer from the property line of any adjacent residence, community gardens limit deliveries to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and ban all-night lighting, forestry and logging must follow Chapter 66, Article IV, and standard silviculture practices are expressly protected from being read out of the ordinance.

Wind turbines classed as an agricultural accessory use need a 100-foot setback from any property line. Sec. 1.5(2)(d) even defaults unclassified land to the AG district until the Board of Commissioners amends the Official Zoning Map, underscoring how central agriculture is to the county's base zoning scheme. The Community Development Director administers the permitted-use table and issues written zoning verifications on request; the Board of Zoning Appeals and Planning Commission hears Special Use Permit applications for districts where commercial agriculture is not outright permitted.