Calaveras County, CA Right to Farm: Farm Nuisance Protection (2026)

120, Right to Farm, states that any legally existing agriculture land use, specifically naming farming, ranching, orchard operations, livestock, row crops, and food processing, is considered to have a right to enjoy the productive and economic fruits of its labor without fear of infringement by encroaching residential or other non-agricultural development on adjoining parcels and in the general vicinity. The ordinance goes further than a typical right-to-farm nuisance defense: it states plainly that the right to farm takes precedence over all other adjoining and nearby land uses, giving agricultural operations priority standing when a conflict arises with a newer residential or commercial neighbor.

C requires new residential development to maintain from any lot in the resource production general plan category, and the compatible-use rules that apply to land held under a Williamson Act contract or zoned Agricultural Preserve (AP) or Timberland Production (TP). 16, General Site Regulations, it applies countywide to every unincorporated zone where agriculture operates, from the resource zones down to residential parcels adjoining a farm, everywhere outside Angels Camp.