Rural Neighbors and the Right to Farm

by Cora Jordan
Copyright © 1994 Nolo Press

This information comes from our friends at Nolo Press. For more information or to order this book, visit Nolo's site at http://www.nolo.com.

• The Legal 'Right to Farm'
• Sniff Before You Leap
• If You Need Help

During the last several decades, more and more city people have migrated to rural areas to pursue their modern American dreams. They seek a peaceful place in the country, away from the noise and crime of cities. Many choose homes in modest (or not so modest) subdivisions that press into formerly agricultural lands.

This intrusion of urban life into rural life results in an inevitable conflict. How surprised some neighbors are to wake up one spring morning to roaring machinery, buzzing flies, the stench of manure and a mist of pesticides in the air. And how angry many become when they learn that they can't do anything about it.

The Legal 'Right to Farm'

States now gives farmers a basic "right to farm" without the fear of lawsuits brought by offended neighbors. As one judge remarked while dismissing a lawsuit against a hog farmer, "pork production generates odors which cannot be prevented, and so long as the human race consumes pork, someone must tolerate the smell."

Before the right-to-farm laws were enacted (most of them in the 1980s), courts shut down many a farmer's operation because it was a nuisance to the neighbors. For example, a group of annoyed neighbors, whose homes had sprung up around a Massachusetts hog farm, sued and closed it in 1963.

Some judges tried to strike a middle ground and ended up applying restrictions that would let the farming operation continue. A Florida court, for example, allowed a hog farm to stay in business but limited how many hogs the farmer could have. The judge also issued instructions on how to store and feed the garbage the hogs were accustomed to eating.

In another case, retirees at Sun City in Arizona discovered that they had traded their frigid climates for warm breezes laced with the odor of a cattle feedlot. A resulting lawsuit closed down the feedlot, but the judge ordered the developer of the community to pay the cost of relocating the cattle operation.

The right-to-farm laws take judges out of the farm management business and protect farmers from the nuisance laws that apply to ordinary neighbors. Every state in the country has passed a right-to-farm law.

North Carolina's law is typical. It declares that an agricultural operation which has existed for a year without being a nuisance is presumed not to be a nuisance even when new neighbors move in. If the farm operations are conducted in a reasonable manner, the new neighbors can't legally complain.

Several states list specific annoyances that are not considered a legal nuisance to neighbors. The lists include odor, noise, dust and the use of pesticides--the very conditions which, without the laws, could lead to a lawsuit by a neighbor.

Right-to-farm laws do not give farmers complete freedom to do as they please. Farmers must operate in a legal and reasonable manner to be eligible for the law's protection.

Some states -- New York, for example -- do not allow a protected farming operation to undergo a large increase in size. Many don't allow farmers to substantially change what they are doing if they are to remain protected under the law. And none of the laws protect a farmer who does not follow normal procedures or who deliberately annoys neighbors.

Counties in some states have also adopted their own right to farm laws. Some of them include a mediation or arbitration procedure to handle neighbor complaints.

Sniff Before You Leap

Before you build your dream house in the country, thoroughly investigate the surroundings. That lovely wooded hillside you see from your window may be all that stands between you and a cattle feedlot. If all is well when you visit in February, remember that the scene may look (and smell) quite different in the heat of August. Do not assume because a new subdivision will be large, beautiful and expensive, farming operations may not be a problem. Use your head and do some checking on your own.

If you buy property that someone is already living in, the seller may be required to reveal to you any conditions that may create an annoyance. California, for example, requires sellers, rural or urban, to give buyers disclosure forms that list any neighboring problems, including noise, odors and dust. A few counties in California that have adopted local right-to-farm laws now also require sellers to disclose facts about nearby farming operations.

Laws requiring developers to disclose the existence of protected neighboring farm operations cannot be far behind.

You can find and read both state laws and county ordinances in a county law library.

If You Need Help

Most suburbanites are not well versed in standard farming practices. But if you suspect that an operation is outside the law's protection, you may have to determine what is "normal" farming practice. You'll want help from someone who understands the applicable restrictions and the definition of normal farming practice for your area.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture issues regulations pertaining to different types of farming, as do state Commissioners of Agriculture.

Many states have county farm agents who may be able to help. They know about customary farming practices, and may also be able to tell you about local mediation or arbitration services that have been set up to resolve these disputes.

Also try the local or state Health Department and the State Department of Agriculture. These agencies may investigate and solve the problem for you, especially if many neighbors complain at the same time. The office responsible for inspecting or licensing a particular kind of operation -- a dairy farm, for instance -- should want to know about possible substandard practices and may take action against the farmer.

How to Get Neighbors to Turn Down the Volume

1. Talk to Your Neighbor
2. Get a Copy of Your Local Ordinance
3. Warn Your Neighbor in Writing
4. Suggest Mediation
5. Call the Police
6. Sue for Nuisance
7. If You're a Tenant

It's 2 in the morning. You're lying in bed trying to sleep because you have a big meeting tomorrow morning. You feel a pounding sensation in your head. At first, you think it's a headache. But then you realize that it's the funky disco beat blasting from your next-door neighbor's stereo, reverberating through your bedroom and rattling your windows.

Before you pound on the neighbor's door and yell something you'll regret, or, even worse, resign yourself to living with the noise, try some more constructive alternatives.

1. Talk to Your Neighbor

Your first step is to talk to your neighbor and try to resolve your differences in person. It's hard to believe, but sometimes neighbors are not aware that they are causing a disturbance. Even if you're ready to punch somebody's lights out, try a little sugar instead.

2. Get a Copy of Your Local Ordinance

Your next step is to get a copy of your local noise laws. Most cities and counties have ordinances that control the times, types and loudness of noise. For example, many local ordinances prohibit unreasonable vehicle noise (like honking the car horn early every morning for a carpool) or dogs barking all night long every night. Noisy neighbors are in for a warning or even a fine. You can look up your local ordinance at city hall, a public law library or the public library. Make at least two copies of it, one for your neighbor and one for yourself.

3. Warn Your Neighbor in Writing

If things don't improve, ask your neighbor again--this time in writing--to quiet down. Don't make threats, but state that if the situation doesn't improve you'll be forced to notify the authorities. Enclose a copy of the noise ordinance. Keep a copy of your letter; you'll need it if, as a last resort, you later sue your neighbor.

4. Suggest Mediation

Most cities offer free or low-cost mediation services, which means they provide an impartial mediator who will sit down with you and your neighbor and try to help you resolve your differences.

Just call the mediation service; someone there will contact the neighbor and suggest mediation. (These people are very good at convincing others to give mediation a chance.)

5. Call the Police

If you have done all of the above and your neighbor has responded by turning up the volume, now is the time to call the police (or the Animal Control officer if the problem is a barking dog). Try to get the police to come while the noise is occurring.

Of course, you can call the police on a noisy neighbor the first time the music gets too loud for your taste. But the police will be more sympathetic to your situation if they see that you have tried to solve the problem on your own.

6. Sue for Nuisance

If all else fails, you can get your neighbor's attention-and maybe some money-by suing in small claims court. You can sue your neighbor for nuisance if your neighbor's noise unreasonably interferes with your enjoyment of your property. In the lawsuit, you ask for money to compensate you for the interference with your right to peacefully enjoy your home.

Small claims court is easy and inexpensive, and you don't need a lawyer. You will need to show the following:

• There is excessive and disturbing noise.
• Your enjoyment of your property is diminished.
• You have asked the person to stop the noise (your letter should be enough to prove this).

To prove your case, you can use police reports, witnesses, recordings, your own testimony and the testimony of neighbors or other witnesses.

The amount you'll want to ask for will depend on how much the noise bothered you. Did you lose sleep? Were you unable to carry on your usual activities, such as reading, playing music or talking to friends? Decide on a reasonable dollar amount per day, and multiply that figure by the number of days you've been seriously bothered. The amount of money you can ask for in small claims court is limited, between $2,000 and $5,000 in most states.

If You're a Tenant

Noisy neighbors are always bad news. But when you share walls with the insensitive neighbor, the problem is especially vexing. The good news for renters is that, in addition to all your other options, you have built-in allies in the battle to keep your apartment livable: your lease or rental agreement and your landlord.

Remember the lease or rental agreement you signed? Chances are your neighbor signed one too. Standard leases and rental agreements contain clauses that entitle you to "quiet enjoyment" of your home. A neighbor who is blasting the stereo in an unreasonable manner is probably violating the lease or rental agreement and can be evicted for doing so.

If you warn your neighbor about the noise in writing and are sure that your lease entitles you to a reasonable amount of quiet, send a copy of the lease along with your letter. In your letter, tell the neighbor that the next complaint will be to the landlord or neighborhood association if the noise continues.

If warning your neighbor doesn't work, go to your landlord. Most tenants don't like to complain to the landlord or manager about unreasonable noise or other nuisances because they are afraid of being branded as troublemakers. But other neighbors are probably bothered by the noise too. Get together with them and complain to the landlord as a group. It's easier and you might get faster results. Most landlords don't want arguments between tenants and won't put up with tenants who cause trouble by ignoring signed lease or rental agreements. Your landlord will probably tell the noisy tenant to pipe down or face eviction.