Wayne County, IN Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

Wayne County Code § 156.075(A) sets out the full list of principal permitted uses in the A-1 Agricultural District: agricultural operations and the usual agricultural buildings, farm office buildings, nurseries and greenhouses; a single one-family dwelling per minimum one-and-a-half-acre parcel; churches, schools, and public buildings; non-commercial recreation areas including country clubs, pools, golf courses, and summer camps; small and large kennels; a cemetery on a minimum of three acres; signage under §§ 156.430 through 156.434; sawmills cutting timber grown on the premises; essential services under § 156.044; unit development projects under §§ 156.445 through 156.463; and non-conforming uses continued under § 156.365.

Special exceptions listed for A-1 in § 156.509 go through the Board of Zoning Appeals under §§ 156.505 through 156.508, and § 156.076(B) bars animal husbandry as a principal use on tracts under five acres except by that special-exception process. Separately, Wayne County Code § 156.150 establishes the A-4 Agriculture Preservation District specifically to permit intensive agricultural activity as the principal land use and to disallow uses that remove land from production or contribute to the premature termination of agricultural enterprises. Under § 156.151(C)(7), once a parcel is rezoned into A-4, the Wayne County Board of Commissioners will not approve another rezoning of that land for ten years.

Confined feeding and concentrated animal feeding operations require a special exception under § 156.076(C). Zoning administration runs through the Wayne County Plan Commission and Zoning Administrator, who process permits and special-exception applications for both districts.