Zoning to Enhance Agricultural Viability

Like many parts of the world, fragmentation of prime agricultural land is a continuing trend in Tompkins County. In recognition of this trend, local governments may alter their zoning ordinances to protect agricultural land and enhance farm viability.

One tool is to adopt an agricultural protection zoning ordinance which designates areas where farming will be encouraged and other land uses discouraged. Some ordinances restrict residential density, promote right-to-farm provisions, and authorize commercial agricultural activities, such as farmstands, that add to farm profitability. Agricultural protection zoning can stabilize the agricultural land base by keeping large tracts of land free of non-farm development, allowing communities to conserve contiguous agricultural land. Maintaining a critical mass of farmland can help ensure that other industries vital to farming, such as feed suppliers, also can survive, helping to promote the whole regional farm economy.

Another tool is to alter the allowable uses in the zoning districts within, and in proximity to, prime agricultural areas to include businesses related to farm operations, such as food processing and distribution. This can allow farmers to efficiently contain all processes of production in and near the areas zoned for agriculture, and to locally produce value-added products that are more competitive in the marketplace.