Chapter 18.20 — A-3 AGRICULTURAL DISTRICT

This district classification is intended to be applied to lands which are used or are suitable for use for agricultural production purposes. This classification is to be used to protect those areas in the county devoted to such agricultural uses, to prevent premature and unnecessary conversion of such agricultural land to urban uses and to prevent encroachment onto agricultural lands by incompatible uses.

(Ord. 467 § 13, 1984)

The regulations set out in this chapter shall apply in all A-3 districts and shall be subject to the provisions of Chapters 18.102 through 18.108 of this title. (Ord. 467 § 13, 1984)

Uses allowed by right in an A-3 district shall be as follows:

• (1) Farm or ranch related dwellings occupied by the owner or operator or help employed on the property; farm buildings and farm labor housing, accessory buildings and uses;

• (2) Private stables;

• (3) All general agricultural uses, including, but not limited to, the following, except those listed in Section 18.20.040 of this chapter:

Animal husbandry and horticultural uses including: crop and tree farming, livestock grazing, greenhouses, (including geothermal nurseries), fish and frog farms;

• (4) Seasonal roadside stands for sale of products produced on the property;

(5) Kennels, provided that a residential use is first established. (Ord. 467 § 13, 1984; Ord. 467-V § 6, 1998; Ord. 467-AC § 7, 2003; Ord. 2023-08, 11/14/2023)

Uses allowed by use permit in an A-3 district shall be as follows:

• (1) Commercial feedlots, stockyards, commercial hog ranches, animal auction and sale yards, dairies, poultry and fowl production;

• (2) Fertilizer plants and yards, agricultural and dairy processing plants, rendering plants or slaughter houses;

• (3) Geothermal production other than associated with greenhouses;

• (4) Animal hospitals;

• (5) Airports for commercial farm services, commercial excavation of natural materials;

• (6) Sales, rental, service and commercial repair of farm and agricultural equipment;

• (7) Public stables.

(8) Kennels, if a residential use is not first established. (Ord. 467 § 13, 1984; Ord. 457-V § 7, 1998; Ord. 2023-08, 11/14/2023)

Other regulations in an A-3 district shall be as follows:

• (1) Minimum Parcel Size. Seventy-five acres or as otherwise specified for a project for which a use permit has been secured;

• (2) Except as otherwise provided for uses for which a use permit has been secured, the minimum setbacks shall be as follows:

  • (A) Front, twenty feet,

Side, ten feet,

Rear, twenty feet;

• (B) Accessory buildings used as guesthouses or barns, stables or farm outbuildings shall not be less than twenty feet from any side or rear property line and not less than fifty feet from the property line and not less than twenty feet from any dwelling unit on the property.

• (Ord. 467 § 13, 1984)