Building a Barn on Gorge Land: Kentucky’s Farm-Building Rule

By Marcos Gil, REALTOR®, Keller Williams Commonwealth, KY license 296259

Illustrative photo: barns in the Red River valley, Kentucky (2008). Photo: A. E. Crane, U.S. DOT, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Not a property discussed here.

Buying land around the Red River Gorge with a barn in mind? Kentucky’s building-code statute has a specific rule for farm buildings outside city limits, and a separate one for buildings used for agritourism. Here is what the text says, condition by condition.

How Kentucky’s building-code statute defines “building”

KRS Chapter 198B is Kentucky’s building-code statute. KRS 198B.010(4) defines “Building” as “any combination of materials, whether portable or fixed, which comprises a structure or nonmine underground area affording facilities or shelter for any human occupancy, whether infrequent or regular.” The same subsection then lists what “Building” does not mean.

The farm-building carve-out, condition by condition

KRS 198B.010(4) says “Building” shall not mean “a farm dwelling or other farm buildings and structures incident to the operation and maintenance of the farm if the farm structures are located outside the boundary of a municipality and are not used in the business of retail trade or used as a place of regular employment for ten (10) or more people or structures used in the storage or processing of timber products.”

Broken into its conditions:

1. Farm use. The structure is “incident to the operation and maintenance of the farm.”
2. Location. It is “located outside the boundary of a municipality.” A parcel inside an incorporated town’s limits doesn’t meet this one. Check the parcel against city limits with the county PVA or planning office.
3. No retail. It is “not used in the business of retail trade.”
4. Fewer than ten regular workers. It is not “used as a place of regular employment for ten (10) or more people.”

The sentence ends with “structures used in the storage or processing of timber products.” How that phrase applies to a given sawmill shed or log barn is a question for the building official.

Chapter 198B’s definitions section doesn’t define “farm.” Whether a specific parcel and use count as a farm: UNKNOWN until you ask the county building official.

Agritourism buildings are a different rule

KRS 198B.085(1): “Except as otherwise provided in this section, an agritourism building as defined in KRS 247.801 shall comply with the Kentucky Building Code.”

KRS 247.801(3) defines “Agritourism building” as “any building or structure or any portion thereof that is used for one (1) or more agritourism activities.” Under 247.801(2), qualifying activities “may include farming, ranching, historic, cultural, civic, or ceremonial activities, including but not limited to weddings and ancillary events; harvest-your-own operations; farmers’ markets; or natural resource-based activities.” They may qualify “whether or not a participant pays to view or to participate in the activity.” Under 247.801(2)(a), the activity also “Is carried out on a farm, ranch, agricultural operation, horticultural operation, or agribusiness operation”.

So a barn on a farm or agricultural operation that is used for weddings or a harvest-your-own operation fits that definition of an agritourism building, and KRS 198B.085(1) points it to the Kentucky Building Code. Whether events are allowed on a given parcel is a separate zoning, deed and county question.

KRS 198B.085(2) has two exemptions, and only for an agritourism building “built prior to December 31, 2016”:

• It “shall not be required to comply with the seismic requirements within the Kentucky Building Code.”
• “If an agritourism building has a capacity of four hundred (400) persons or is six thousand (6,000) square feet or less,” it “shall not require the services of an architect licensed by the Commonwealth of Kentucky.”

Questions before you buy

• Is the parcel inside a city’s limits?
• What will the barn be used for: the farm itself, retail sales, or events and visitors?
• Will ten or more people work there on a regular basis?
• Was an existing barn used for agritourism, and was it built before December 31, 2016?
• Electrical, septic and other permits are separate questions from KRS 198B.010(4). Whether they apply to a given farm building: UNKNOWN here; ask the county and state inspectors.

This is general information about Kentucky statutes, not legal advice. The county building official has the final word on a specific building, and a land-use attorney on a specific parcel.

Put the barn on the list

Looking at land around the Gorge with a barn or event space in mind? Call (859) 310-1209. I’ll put the city-limits and building-use questions on the list before you sign.

Marcos Gil, REALTOR® · Kentucky license №296259
Keller Williams Commonwealth · 1908 Bryant Rd Ste 250, Lexington, KY 40509
Principal Broker: Bo Smith · (859) 721-2121
Equal Housing Opportunity.