Chambers v. Delaware County BZA: Court of Appeals Rules CAFOs are "Farms" Under Zoning Ordinance

On May 13, 2020, the Indiana Court of Appeals held a hog CAFO (concentrated animal feeding operation) fell within the county zoning ordinance’s definition of a “farm” and therefore was properly issued a building permit in the F Farming Zone. A copy of the decision is available here.

Remonstrators argued a modern CAFO should not be considered a “farm” either because it was “industrial” or because of the amount of manure generated by the livestock. But the zoning ordinance defined permitted uses in the F Farming Zone as including “animal and poultry husbandry” and allowed “farms for the…raising and sale of…hogs” and “barns.” A later zoning amendment required subdivisions in the F Farming Zone to execute a covenant acknowledging that the area was zoned for agricultural uses, including “the raising, breeding and sale of livestock and poultry, including confinement feeding operations….”

The local building commissioner had issued a building permit, but after the remonstrators appealed, the board of zoning appeals “voided” the permit. The trial court reversed the BZA and reinstated the permit. The plain language of the ordinance clearly allowed farmers to raise hogs in barns. The subdivision zoning amendment confirmed CAFOs had been considered a permitted use in the F Farming Zone. The Court of Appeals therefore held the building permit was properly issued and affirmed the trial court’s reversal of the BZA’s decision.