COLUMBUS, Ohio — Agricultural activities are generally exempt from Ohio’s zoning and building regulations, though local officials have some leeway in specific instances such as protecting public health and safety, according to the director of Ohio State’s Agricultural & Resource Law Program.

“I receive so many questions from both landowners and local officials about regulation of agricultural land issues,” Peggy Kirk Hall explained in a May 15 webinar on the topic. “In areas with land being used for agriculture, township and county officials also often have questions pertaining to whether they have regulatory authority on certain agricultural land uses. Even officials from larger cities now have questions regarding agricultural zoning and building codes thanks to the increase in urban agriculture.”

The question of zoning and building regulations generally comes down to the definition of agriculture in the Ohio Revised Code, she noted.

Agriculture includes farming, ranching, aquaculture, beekeeping, horticulture, winemaking, livestock and poultry husbandry, dairy production and the production of field crops, fruits, vegetables and nursery stock. It also includes the processing, drying, storage and marketing of agricultural products when those activities are done in conjunction with, but are secondary to, such husbandry or production. Counties and townships in unincorporated areas of the state “may not use their power to limit the use of land for agriculture,” Hall said. “That’s the big limitation placed on counties and townships.”

Those counties and townships also may not prohibit the construction or use of buildings or structures that are incidental to the agricultural use of the land on which they’re located, she said.

Regulations may be allowed if the agricultural activities are in a platted subdivision or in an area of 15 or more lots contiguous to one another on one or both sides of a road.

Regulation could include height requirements, structure size and setback building lines, but would only apply to lots 1-5 acres in size.

“They’re looking at the population density in those situations,” Hall stated. “The law doesn’t give power (to regulate) on lots greater than five acres. Over five acres, there’s a lot less authority to regulate.”

Citing examples of landowners who want to construct a barn to store farm equipment or to house horses for recreational use, Hall said it doesn’t matter whether the activity is commercial in nature. “The definition of ‘agriculture’ does not use the word ‘commercial’ and there’s no reference to it in the definition,” she noted.

A producer wanting to create a farm market may do so if 50 percent of the gross income received from the market comes from produce raised on farms owned or operated by the market operator in a normal crop year.

“As long as the farm market meets ‘the 50 percent test,’ they can sell their products and have a structure to sell it in,” Hall said.

To protect the public, local governments may regulate the size of the farm market structure and the parking area, and setback building lines.

Counties and townships may also not prohibit the production of biodiesel, biomass energy or heat or electric on agriculturally zoned land as long as the property is exclusively devoted to agricultural use, Hall noted.

The same exemption applies to biologically derived methane gas if the operation doesn’t produce more than 5 megawatts.

While Ohio’s Revised Code requires buildings used for activities such as education, entertainment, storage or repair to be constructed and maintained as safe and sanitary, the law does provide exceptions for agricultural structures, Hall said. For example, buildings incidental to agricultural purposes on the land on which they’re located – and that are not used for retail trade – are exempt.

A county zoning inspector may issue a zoning certificate stating a certain building or structure is to be used for agriculture, making it not subject to the Ohio building code, Hall said.