Alamance County, NC Right to Farm: Farm Nuisance Protection (2026)

Section 2 of the Voluntary Agricultural District (VAD) Ordinance states the program exists to decrease the likelihood of legal disputes, such as nuisance actions between farm owners and their neighbors, and to decrease other negative impacts on properly managed farms. To carry that purpose into practice, § 12(B) requires the county to post a standard notice, at the Soil and Water Conservation District office and any other office the Advisory Board deems necessary, warning buyers that agricultural and forestry activities can occur at any hour.

The ordinance backs that notice with real procedural protection against government taking: § 10 bars any state or local agency from formally starting condemnation of qualifying District farmland until the Agricultural Advisory Board holds a public hearing, publishes notice in the county newspaper within ten business days of the request, and issues findings within thirty days on whether the project's need is established and whether less-disruptive alternatives exist; the Board of Commissioners may condemn District farmland only as a last resort. Section 13 further waives water and sewer assessments for District landowners and holds assessments for all farms, in or out of a District, in abeyance without interest until the property connects to county water or sewer.