Brunswick County, NC Right to Farm: Farm Nuisance Protection (2026)
Key Facts
- Purpose section
- UDO § 4.9.2
- Land-records notice
- UDO § 4.9.9
- Public notice posted at
- Register of Deeds; Tax Department
- Signage duty
- farmer posts sign outside NCDOT ROW
- Plat disclosure radius
- 1/2 mile of a VAD
Summary
Brunswick County's Voluntary Agricultural District Program states its purpose includes increasing protection of enrolled farms from nuisance suits and non-farm pressure, under UDO Section 4.9.2. The County records notice of nearby VADs in land titles and requires posted signage and public notices warning buyers that farming activity may occur at any hour, day or night, on unincorporated county land.
The purpose of this Program is to promote the health, safety, rural agricultural values, and general welfare of the County, and more specifically, increase identity and pride in the agricultural community, its way of life, and its importance in preserving the agrarian heritage of the county; encourage the economic and financial health of farming; increase protection from undesirable, non-farm development: and increase the protection of farms from nuisance suits anti other negative impacts on properly managed farms. ... Voluntary Agricultural Districts have been developed and mapped to inform all purchasers of real property that agricultural activities, including but not limited to: pesticide spraying, manure spreading, machinery and truck operations, livestock operations, sawing, controlled burning, and similar activities may take place in these Districts any time during the day or night.
Full Breakdown
2 sets the Program's purpose as promoting agricultural values, increasing protection from undesirable non-farm development, and increasing the protection of farms from nuisance suits and other negative impacts on properly managed farms. 9 requires that once Brunswick County computerizes its Land Records System, titles for qualifying farmland and land within a VAD be flagged to alert anyone researching a tract within one-half aerial mile of a VAD District. 12 requires the Agricultural Advisory Board and County to post a standing public notice at the Register of Deeds and in the Tax Department's public area, and requires farmers to post signage identifying an approved VAD on their own property outside any NCDOT right-of-way.
Developers of Major Subdivisions or Planned Unit Developments must designate on preliminary and final plats any VAD District within a half-mile radius of the proposed development, giving future buyers advance warning before lots are ever sold. The notice language itself lists the kinds of activity buyers are warned about, including pesticide spraying, manure spreading, machinery and truck operations, livestock operations, sawing and controlled burning, at any time of day or night.
Violations & Fines
The County and its officers face no liability in damages for good-faith acts connected to administering the notice and VAD program, and no cause of action arises against anyone for failing to report a tract's proximity to a qualifying farm or VAD, per UDO Section 4.9.9.B-C. A subdivision developer who omits the required VAD designation from a preliminary or final plat fails the plat-review requirement in Section 4.9.12.D, which the Planning Department enforces during subdivision approval.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Brunswick County's farm-protection notice actually say?
Where is the VAD notice recorded so buyers see it?
Does a subdivision developer have to disclose a nearby VAD?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Brunswick County
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