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

13, adopted by Ordinance No. 030). 020, states that no existing or future commercial agricultural operation or its appurtenances, run according to proper and accepted customs and standards, can become a public or private nuisance to adjacent land uses once it has operated for more than three years without having been a nuisance when it began. That protection does not apply if the nuisance results from negligent or improper operation, so a farm run outside normal practice keeps full nuisance exposure. The chapter also imposes disclosure duties.

040(A), any agent or unrepresented seller of property zoned Agricultural Land, or located within 300 feet of such zoning, must disclose in writing that residents may face dust, smoke, noise, odor, and agricultural chemical use as a normal incident of nearby farming. 040(C)). 050 further authorizes the county to post signs at the entrance to established farming areas warning buyers that agricultural use is protected by law. The chapter expressly states it does not modify or abridge state nuisance law under the Civil Code, Health and Safety Code, Fish and Game Code, Food and Agricultural Code, or Division 7 of the Water Code; it only guides interpretation of county code and regulations.