Medford, OR Right to Farm: Farm Nuisance Protection (2026)

802, any land division, planned unit development, conditional use permit or site plan and architectural review proposed adjacent to Exclusive Farm Use (EFU) land within the urban reserve must mitigate conflict with farming through setbacks, tree buffers, screening shrubs, trespass-inhibiting fencing, and a recorded deed declaration. 802(7)(c)(v) requires that any portion of the development site lying within 1,000 feet of an applicable EFU boundary be subject to a deed declaration binding the owner and all successors in interest to recognize and accept common, customary and accepted farming practices that may produce noise, dust, odors, and other impacts.

The declaration must be in a form approved by the City, recorded in the official records of Jackson County, and copies mailed to owners of the adjacent agricultural land. 801(4)(b)(iii), imposes a similar 200-foot deed declaration requirement for development outside the urban reserve that abuts EFU or Exclusive Agriculture (EA) zoned land, paired with a six-foot minimum fence and an eight-foot landscaped buffer strip along the shared property line. Both sections implement a policy jointly adopted by the City and Jackson County under the Urban Growth Boundary Management Agreement and the Greater Bear Creek Valley Regional Problem-Solving Plan, and both place the burden of adapting to agricultural impacts on the incoming urban development rather than on the farm. The Planning Department reviews an Agricultural Impact Assessment Report with each qualifying application before approving the mitigation plan and deed language.