West Unity City Zoning Code
CHAPTER 1174
A-2 General Agricultural District
1174.01 INTENT.
The A-2 General Agricultural District is established as a zone in which agricultural uses are encouraged as the principal uses of the land. The specific intent is to facilitate the proper use of lands best suited to agriculture to minimize the conflicts between urban and agricultural uses, to preserve and protect agricultural land from unnecessary encroachment by nonagricultural uses, and to prevent the premature termination of agricultural pursuits, to preserve open space, and to provide for the diversity of land uses in the Village to specifically include the agricultural pursuits historically important to the cultural heritage of the Village and its environs. This chapter is necessary to foster the preservation of farms and rural lifestyles through zoning, which is prohibited to unincorporated areas surrounding the Village.
(Ord. 2011-03. Passed 3-24-11.)
1174.02 PRINCIPAL USES PERMITTED.
In a General Agricultural District, no building or land shall be used and no building shall be created except for one or more of the following specified uses unless otherwise provided in this chapter:
(a) Agricultural buildings and uses provided:
(1) Buildings used to house farm animals.
(2) Livestock and poultry raising or breeding for consumption on the premises and for commercial purposes.
(3) Production of crops, timber and pasturage.
(4) Recycling of organic matter.
(5) Roadside stands, which shall be limited to one sign advertising such products not exceeding twenty square feet, and which shall include a required minimum of two off-street parking places; all of which shall be located and set back so as not to created traffic hazard.
(6) Slaughtering of livestock and poultry, production of fertilizer, processing of animal skins and hides, and the reduction of animal matter, provided that the animals, skins, hides and animal matter are either produced on the premises or the resulting product is employed as an end use on the premises.
(7) One-family detached dwellings.
(8) Publicly owned and operated parks, playgrounds and recreational facilities.
(9) Conservation of natural resources including land, water and open space conservation and wildlife refuges.
(10) Accessory buildings and uses customarily incidental to any of the permitted uses.
(Ord. 2011-03. Passed 3-24-11.)
1174.03 PRINCIPAL USES PERMITTED TO SPECIAL CONDITIONS.
(b) Where an owner of premises in a General Agricultural District intends to use the premises in furtherance of agriculture beyond the uses specified in Section 1174.02 the West Unity Village Board of Zoning Appeals may grant a special approval to the owner of the premises pursuant to this section and Chapter 1165 of the Codified Ordinances of West Unity, Ohio to permit one or more uses not specifically set forth in Section 1174.02. Such approval must:
(1) Be for a specified period of years, or
(2) Be specifically restricted to run to the benefit of the owner of the premises, and
(3) Not be transferable to a subsequent owner, and
(4) Not run with the land, and
(5) Be in furtherance of, incident to, or an extension of a permitted use.
(Ord. 2011-03. Passed 3-24-11.)
1174.04 AREA AND BULK REQUIREMENTS.
(a) Minimum lot size shall be twenty acres.
(b) Minimum frontage on a public street shall be one hundred feet.
(c) Minimum width of any lot shall be one hundred feet.
(d) There shall be no setback requirement on any agricultural use, including growing crops, standing timer or woodlot production, pasturage, holding fields fallow or in natural succession, or to permit the maximization of agricultural production or conservation except that no building shall be nearer than fifteen feet to any lot boundary.
(Ord. 2011-03. Passed 3-24-11.)