Senate hearing hears broad support for restoring farm zoning exemption, splits over livestock rules and income thresholds

Steve Collier, an attorney identified by the committee, told senators on Feb. 4 that the Supreme Court’s May decision prompted an urgent, multi-stakeholder effort to restore the municipal zoning exemption for farming and to clarify the law.

"Everyone in this room believes that farming would primarily be exempt from zoning and that the exemption should be restored," Collier said, summarizing the broad consensus he said participants had reached while noting remaining differences over details. He warned that the prior framework left gaps on eligibility and land base that now require legislative fixes.

Collier highlighted two recurring technical gaps: the income/eligibility trigger linked to the RAPs and the lack of a consistent land-base test. He described the current bright-line 4-acre standard and the potential for anomalous results without limits, saying, "But what if you put 50 pigs there? You know, if you put 50 pigs on that half-acre plot..." as an illustration of the regulatory concern.

Farm advocates led by Jake…