McLean County, IL Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

Section 350-35A states the County adopted the Agriculture District because agricultural land near incorporated communities faces urban pressure that brings conflicting land uses into juxtaposition, drives up public service costs and stimulates land speculation, and because certain agricultural land is a unique, irreplaceable resource. The stated objectives include promoting land most suitable for farming, protecting agricultural land value from incompatible uses, conserving open space, wooded areas, streams and mineral deposits, and separately governing residential uses that are only accessory or necessary to agriculture. The district's intensity rules back this up with numbers: agriculture and farming uses need a minimum one-acre lot, single-family non-farm dwellings built before February 11, 1974 need at least one acre and 200 feet of lot width, and maximum impervious surface coverage is capped at 30% under Section 350-35E(3).

New single-family lots carved from farm parcels after 1974 are capped at one for every 40 acres of the original parcel and cannot be subdivided further once established. The Director of Building and Zoning administers permitted and special uses under this section, with special uses requiring a permit under Article VIII of the zoning code. Because McLean County's zoning authority under 55 ILCS 5/5-12001 only reaches unincorporated territory, Bloomington and Normal each apply their own separate municipal zoning codes rather than the County's Agriculture District.