Formulating and Evaluating Agricultural Zoning Programs

Factors influencing zoning ordinance adoption in rural and exurban townships

“…There was no relationship between lakes or public lands and zoning adoption, despite evidence that these resources attract development (Butsic et al, 2010;Gonzalez-Abraham et al, 2007;Radeloff, Hammer, & Stewart, 2005;Theobald, Miller, & Hobbs, 1997). Farmland protection in particular is a common theme in many rural communities' land-use plans, and is often implemented in zoning ordinances as a minimum parcel size in farm zones (Coughlin, 1991). Though housing rate was not significant in the model, trends indicated that townships with more agricultural land were more likely to adopt zoning if they experienced high housing growth.…”

The Challenge of Farmland Preservation: Lessons from a Six-Nation Comparison

“…The most potentially effective tool-"exclusive agricultural zoning," which Oregon and Hawaii apply through state-wide controls-is the least used (Coughlin 1991;cf. Keene 1996).…”

Exurban Farmers' Perceptions of Land Use Policy Effectiveness: Implications for the Next Generation of Policy Development

“…For example, large-lot zoning assumes that farms all require over 40 acres (16 hectares), and agricultural easement program scoring systems often give priority to farms that operate larger acreages and raise conventional crops. Similarly, exclusive agricultural zoning typically excludes value-added processing activities or on-farm sales (Coughlin, 1991). However, recent research on farmers in exurban areas has demonstrated that small and medium-sized operations, and those engaged in direct local marketing of their products, are often more optimistic and successful than larger commodity farms in exurban areas (Oberholtzer et al, 2010).…”