Agriculture and Markets Law Article 25-AA governs certified agricultural districts statewide and limits how local zoning can apply to working farms inside them.
AML §§ 303 through 307 establish the procedure for landowners to form county-administered agricultural districts that are reviewed by the state every eight years. Within a district, AML § 305 caps benefit assessments for farms and bars certain non-farm taxes; AML § 305-a directs municipalities to act in a manner that does not unreasonably restrict or regulate farm operations. State agencies and authorities are also required to file Agricultural Data Statements for projects in districts. Localities retain authority to adopt right-to-farm overlay laws but may not contradict the state framework.
Local laws unreasonably restricting farm operations may be challenged before the Commissioner and invalidated by court order with attorney's fees to the prevailing farmer.
Yonkers, NY
Overnight on-street parking is generally allowed on residential streets but subject to alternate-side street-cleaning rules. Some zones require residential p...
Yonkers, NY
Retaining walls over 4 ft tall (from bottom of footing to top) require a building permit and engineered drawings in Yonkers. Walls with surcharge loads requi...
Yonkers, NY
Chickens and livestock generally prohibited in Yonkers residential zones. Zoning code allows only conventional household pets in single-family and multi-fami...
Yonkers, NY
Yonkers enforces New York State smoke and carbon monoxide alarm requirements under 19 NYCRR Part 1225 (Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code). All dwelli...
Yonkers, NY
Yonkers is not in a designated wildfire zone. New York does not maintain WUI (wildland-urban interface) fire hazard maps, and Yonkers is a dense urban city i...
Yonkers, NY
Yonkers is an urban municipality with no defensible-space brush-clearance mandate. Property owners must keep lots free of overgrowth, debris, and nuisance ve...
See how Yonkers's agricultural zoning protection rules stack up against other locations.
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