Greenville, NC Right to Farm: Farm Nuisance Protection (2026)

Section 9-4-4 of the Greenville Zoning Ordinance defines the geographic and substantive reach of the city's zoning regulations: they govern the use and development of all land within the city and within its extraterritorial area as shown on the official zoning map, with one express carve-out. The section states that these regulations do not apply to bona fide farm activities, in accordance with applicable State laws, meaning Greenville's own zoning code adopts the state's bona fide farm exemption rather than layering additional local zoning restrictions on top of it.

This tracks with Sec. 9-4-9 elsewhere in the same chapter, which states that the application of the zoning regulations does not affect agricultural cultivation. In practice, this means a property engaged in bona fide farming, as defined by North Carolina law, is not subject to Greenville's zoning districts, use tables, setback rules or site plan requirements for that farm activity, whether the land sits inside the city limits or in the ETJ. The exemption was reaffirmed by the City Council through Ordinance No. 21-032, passed June 21, 2021, which amended Sec. 9-4-4 without narrowing the farm carve-out, showing the city has kept the exemption current rather than letting it lapse through a stale cross-reference.