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are allowed in agricultural areas along with agricultural uses of various intensities and scale and a number of conditional uses that are warranted in agricultural areas under certain conditions. Where warranted, LDRs have sometimes been changed to address such conflicts through specific criteria and/or limitations. In the end, County LDRs accommodate the wide and eclectic range of large and small scale agricultural uses, conditional uses, and low density "residential estate" uses that have historically existed and currently exist in the agriculturally designated areas. Through large minimum parcel size requirements (5, 10, and 20 acre minimums), significant open space requirements (60% and 80% of the site), special criteria and limitations, the. LDRs address but do not (and will not) completely resolve all conflicts between competing uses and expectations in the agricultural areas. e State Pre-emptions & Protections of Agricultural Uses Like other states, Florida has strong "right to farm" state statues that pre-empt local government regulations of agricultural and associated uses. In recent years, the state of Florida has strengthened such pre-emptions. Current state law exempts from the Florida Building Code non-residential farm buildings, structures, and facilities located on farms. The term "farm" and "farm operations" are broadly defined (see Florida Statute references in attachment 2) Under state law, commercial nurseries on agricultural property including wholesale plant nurseries are "protected" as a bona fide agricultural use that is pre-empted from local land use and building permit regulations. It is staff's understanding that current state law does not pre-empt the County from enacting reasonable regulations for uses customarily associated with wholesale nurseries such as off- site landscaping services. o Current IRC Regulation of Landscaping Services The County's current LDRs allow landscaping services as a principal "contractor's trades" type of use in heavy commercial and industrial districts where storage of vehicles, equipment, and various supplies and materials are allowed on intensely developed sites with low open space requirements (10% - 15% of the site). Current agricultural district regulations (Section 911.06(4) use table) allow commercial nurseries in the A-1, A-2, and A-3 districts, and specifically permit the following components/uses as part of a commercial nursery in the A-1, A-2, and A-3 districts: "... cultivation, wholesaling, and off-site landscaping services allowed; no retail sales allowed on-site." In its interpretation and application of this existing code provision, staff has had to make judgment calls as to what type use and facility constitutes an off-site landscape service operation that is allowable as a use associated with a wholesale nursery. In making these judgement calls, there have been cases that have "pushed the envelope" with respect to components of the operation, as well as the scale and lay- out of the landscaping services facility. Because wholesale nurseries and associated off-site landscaping services are categorized as a permitted agricultural use, such uses are exempt from County site plan requirements (Section 914.04(1)(a)). In addition, since nurseries are a bona fide agricultural use, consistent with state statute and based on county practice, improvements and structures serving both nurseries and 156