§ 5.16.040. Disclosure.

(a)

San Luis Obispo County has determined that the use of real property for agricultural operations, including agricultural processing, is a high priority and favored use to the county, and those inconveniences or discomforts arising from legally established agricultural activities or operations, as defined in the San Luis Obispo County Code, or state law, shall not be or become a nuisance.

(b)

Disclosure Statement. "The County of San Luis Obispo recognizes the statewide policy to protect and encourage agriculture. Sections 3482.5 and 3482.6 of the California Civil Code and Chapter 5.16 of the San Luis Obispo County Code protect certain preexisting agricultural production and processing operations ("agricultural operations") from nuisance claims. If your property is near a protected agricultural operation, you may be subject to certain inconveniences and/or discomforts which are protected by law. In order for the agricultural operation to be protected, the following requirements of Civil Code Sections 3482.5 and 3482.6 must be satisfied:

(1)

The agricultural operation must be conducted or maintained for commercial purposes;

(2)

The agricultural operation must be conducted or maintained in a manner consistent with proper and accepted customs and standards as established and followed by similar agricultural operations in the same locality;

(3)

The agricultural operation predated the affected use(s) on your property;

(4)

The agricultural operation has been in existence for more than three years; and

(5)

The agricultural operation was not a nuisance at the time it began.

If your property is near an agricultural operation in the unincorporated area of the county, which satisfies the above requirements, you may at times be subject to one or more inconveniences and/or discomfort arising from that operation. Such inconveniences may include (depending upon the type of agricultural operation protected), but are not necessarily limited to, the following: Noise, odors, fumes, dust, legal pesticide use, fertilizers, smoke, insects, farm personnel and truck traffic, visual impacts, night time lighting, operation of machinery and the storage, warehousing and processing of agricultural products or other inconveniences or discomforts associated with the protected agricultural operations. For additional information pertaining to this disclosure and the Right to Farm Ordinance; or concerns with an agricultural operation, please contact the San Luis Obispo County Agricultural Commissioners Office."

(c)

The disclosure statement is given for informational purposes only and nothing in this chapter, or in the disclosure statement, shall prevent anyone from complaining to any appropriate agency, or taking any other available remedy, concerning any unlawful or improper agricultural practice.

(d)

The disclosure statement set forth above shall be used as described in Sections 5.16.050, 5.16.060 and 5.16.070.

(Ord. 2958 § 1 (part), 2001: Ord. 2561 § 1 (part), 1992)