(A) This district is composed of certain land and structures used primarily for agricultural purposes.
(B) The regulations for this district are intended to recognize the transition between agricultural uses of land and communities; to encourage the continued use of that land which is suitable for agriculture, but limit any land uses that may be detrimental to normal community expansion.
(1) Permitted uses.
(a) Agriculture uses, with a maximum of one animal unit per acre, excluding the expansions of existing or development of new intensive livestock facilities operations exceeding one animal unit per acre;
(b) One-family detached dwellings used in conjunction with agricultural operations. One- family dwellings not used in conjunction with agricultural operations shall not be located within one-quarter mile of an existing commercial feedlot, as defined herein;
(c) Cemeteries, including crematories, columbariums and mausoleums when used in conjunction with a cemetery;
(d) Dog kennels; provided, no structure or pen housing any animals shall be located nearer than 750 feet to the boundary of any residential district;
(e) Educational institutions, as follows:
1. Boarding schools and academies;
2. Colleges and universities; and
3. Primary, intermediate and secondary schools.
(f) Child care centers when located in a non-residential building;
(g) Hospitals, sanitariums, rest homes and nursing homes;
(h) Libraries and museums;
(i) Oil or gas well drilling; provided, such well is, or will be, located more than 500 feet from any school, residential district boundary or any residential building other than a residential building occupied by the owner, lessee or operator of the premises on which the well is located;
(j) Public service and public utility uses, as follows; provided, such use is, or will be, located more than 300 feet from the boundary of any residential district:
1. Electric and telephone substations and distribution centers;
2. Gas regulator stations;
3. Poles, wires, cables, conduits, vaults, laterals, pipes, mains, valves or other similar equipment for the transmission, as distinguished from distribution to consumers, of telephone or other communications, electricity, gas or water, operated or maintained by a public utility, as defined in this or these regulations;
4. Police or fire stations;
5. Pumping stations;
6. Radio, television and microwave transmitting or relay stations and towers;
7. Telephone exchanges;
8. Transformer stations;
9. Water reservoirs and standpipes; and
10. Sanitary landfill.
(k) Recreational and social facilities, as follows:
1. Country clubs, including golf, swimming and tennis clubs;
2. Golf courses, but not including golf driving ranges, pitch and putt or miniature golf courses;
3. Non-commercial recreational buildings, community centers, auditoriums, stadiums and arenas;
4. Parks and playgrounds;
5. Privately owned dwellings for seasonal occupancy and not designed or used for permanent occupancy, such as summer homes and cottages, and hunting and fishing lodges and cabins; and
6. Public athletic fields.
(l) Religious institutions as follows:
1. Churches, chapels, temples and synagogues;
2. Convents, seminaries, monasteries and nunneries; and
3. Rectories, parsonages and parish houses.
(m) Stables, provided no structure housing horses shall be located nearer than 750 feet from the boundary of a residential district;
(n) Well head stations, well separators and other similar above the ground facilities customarily used for distribution, transmission or storage of oil or natural gas, provided no such equipment shall be located nearer than 500 feet from the boundary of any residential district. Such equipment may be in enclosed buildings or in the open, but must be completely enclosed behind a chain link fence with a two-inch or less mesh, or its equivalent, not less than six feet in height; and
(o) Supervised group home housing for the developmentally disabled as licensed by the state.
(2) Conditional uses.
(a) Airports;
(b) Community sewage treatment plants;
(c) Excavation, extraction or mining of sand, gravel or other raw materials from the earth for resale. The conditions imposed on such excavation, extraction or mining may include but are not limited to, requirements for setbacks from schools and residential districts, screening, fencing, redevelopment and restrictions on the grade of the excavation and vehicular access thereto;
(d) Intensive livestock facilities/operations, as defined in these regulations and in conformance with all requirements of state regulations governing such activities. These facilities/ operations shall not be located within one-half mile of the corporate limits of the city or within one-quarter mile of an existing residential dwelling;
(e) Garbage and trash dumps;
(f) Greenhouses, including hotbeds, coldbeds and publicly and privately-owned experimental stations for horticultural research and development;
(g) Landscape gardening contractors’ offices and yards;
(h) Nurseries;
(i) Oil or gas well drilling when not permitted by subsection (B)(1)(i) above;
(j) Rose gardens;
(k) Recreational facilities such as campgrounds, youth camps, gun clubs and skeet and trap shooting ranges;
(l) Public service and public utility uses listed in subsection (B)(1)(j) above, but which are, or will be, located nearer than 300 feet to the boundary of a residential district;
(m) Truck gardens, including the growing of fruit, vegetables, berries, melons and flowers;
(n) Sanitary landfill;
(o) Wholesale florists;
(p) Where airports have been established the Holdrege Airport Authority shall have the authority to allow the placement of one mobile home on the airport for the exclusive use of the airport manager and his or her immediate family;
(q) One mobile home as a temporary residence located on not less than 50 acres of farm land used entirely for agricultural purposes; provided that, said residence is occupied only by a full-time employee of the owner, lessee or renter of said farm land; and
(r) Residential building on no less that one-half acre lots in an agricultural zone within the city limits. The minimum lot frontage to be no less than 100 feet.
(3) Signs. All signs shall be in conformance with the regulations provided herein and with the provisions of Art. 5, § 11-514, regarding sign regulations.
(4) Lot size.
(a) The minimum lot area shall be five acres;
(b) Minimum lot width: 150 feet; and
(c) Minimum lot depth: 150 feet.
(5) Setback requirements. Yard requirements in an A Agricultural District shall be as follows:
(a) Minimum front yard: 50 feet, measured from the front lot line, or 80 feet, measured from the centerline of section line road or major arterial street or highway, whichever is greater;
(b) Minimum side yard on each side of a lot:
1. One-family dwellings: ten feet; and
2. All other permitted and conditional uses: 15 feet.
(c) Minimum rear yard: 25 feet.
(6) Height of buildings. In an A Agricultural District, no building shall exceed 45 feet in height; except that, silos, barns and structures used strictly for agricultural purposes may exceed this height.
(7) Lot coverage. In an A Agricultural District, buildings shall not occupy more than 30% of the lot area.
(2005 Code, § 11-201)