AGO 1993-034.

• Case Date: November 16, 1993
• Court: Ohio

Ohio Attorney General Opinions 1993. AGO 1993-034. November 16, 1993OPINION NO. 1993-034The Honorable Robert A. Fry Hancock County Prosecuting Attorney 222 Broadway Findlay, Ohio 45840 Dear Prosecutor Fry: You have requested an opinion regarding the agricultural use exemption from township zoning in R.C. 519.21(A) as applied to migrant labor camps. Specifically you ask: 1.

Is a migrant labor camp constructed by a farmer on his own land still exempt from township zoning regulations pursuant to Ohio Revised Code, Section 519.21(A) and Ohio Attorney General Opinion 67-049 (May 25, 1967), if the farmer subsequently uses the migrant workers to harvest the farmer's crops raised on farm land that he leases, but does not own?

2.

If a farmer establishes a migrant labor camp on his own land for the purpose of removing crops from his land, either owned or leased, during the summer harvest, and subsequently the farmer leases the migrant workers to other farmers in the area to work their land while continuing to allow the migrant workers to stay at his migrant labor camp, is that farmer engaged in agriculture or a commercial enterprise for purposes of enforcing the township zoning regulations under Ohio Revised Code, Section 519.21(A)?

Township Zoning Authority

Township zoning authority is granted in R.C. 519.02, which states that "the board of township trustees may, in accordance with a comprehensive plan regulate by resolution...the uses of land for trade, industry, residence, recreation, or other purposes in the unincorporated territory of such township...." R.C. 519.21(A) limits this general grant of authority as follows:

Except as otherwise provided in division (B) of this section,(fn1) sections 519.02 to 519.25 of the Revised Code confer no power on any township zoning commission, board of township trustees, or board of zoning appeals to prohibit the use of any land for agricultural purposes or the construction or use of buildings or structures incident to the use for agricultural purposes of the land on which such buildings or structures are located...and no zoning certificate shall be required for any such building or structure. (Emphasis and footnote added.)

Land on which the Camp Is Located Must Be Used for Agricultural Purposes

R.C. 519.21 specifically requires that the use of buildings must be related to the agricultural use "of the land on which such buildings or structures are located...." In Keynes Bros., Inc. v. Pickaway Township Trustees, No. 86 CA 27, 1988 Ohio App. LEXIS 1028 (Pickaway County March 25, 1988) (unreported), a commercial grain elevator used only to store grain raised by other nearby property owners was held not entitled to an exemption from township zoning. The court noted that, although the operation of a grain elevator is a use incident to agricultural purposes...