If you buy a Brentwood home within 2,000 feet of agricultural land, the seller is required by city ordinance to hand you a written right-to-farm disclosure no later than five days before title transfers. That is Brentwood Municipal Code Chapter 8.01, adopted by Ordinance 612 in 1999. Most buyers never hear about it until it appears in their disclosure package.

Across 460+ East Bay closings over twenty years, the ag disclosure is the one buyers skim hardest and regret skimming most. Here is what it says and why the city bothered to write its own.

What does Brentwood's right-to-farm ordinance actually require?

It requires a written disclosure to the buyer when property adjacent to or within 2,000 feet of agricultural land changes hands.

Under Brentwood Municipal Code section 8.01.060, the seller must deliver the disclosure statement as soon as practicable after an offer and in no event later than five days before transfer of title. The notice warns that a buyer near farm operations may experience noise, odors, fumes, dust, smoke, insects, machinery operating at any hour, storage and disposal of manure, and the application of fertilizers and other chemicals.

The ordinance also declares that a properly operated agricultural operation is not a nuisance, sets out a grievance and arbitration procedure, and addresses what happens when a party refuses to sign. Section 8.01.110 separately allows the city to require an agricultural buffer or transition area in new development adjacent to agriculturally designated land, evaluated case by case.

Isn't there a state right-to-farm disclosure too?

Yes, and it is a different trigger with a different radius, which is where this gets confused.

California Civil Code section 1103.4 requires a Notice of Right to Farm when residential property sits within one mile of land designated on the California Department of Conservation's Important Farmland Map. The five qualifying designations are Prime Farmland, Farmland of Statewide Importance, Unique Farmland, Farmland of Local Importance, and Grazing Land.

That requirement took effect January 1, 2009 under AB 2881, and per the Department of Conservation it is delivered through the natural hazard disclosure report rather than researched by the seller personally. It also warns buyers they may be barred from legal remedies against accepted agricultural practices under Civil Code section 3482.5.

So a Brentwood buyer near the ag core can receive two notices: the city's 2,000-foot disclosure and the state's one-mile notice inside the hazard report. They are not duplicates and neither substitutes for the other.

How much farmland is actually next to Brentwood?

The City of Brentwood puts its Agricultural Core at 11,000 acres.

The city also reports that Brentwood farms draw more than 500,000 visitors a year, that it has contributed more than $12 million toward easements preserving 988 acres of local farmland, and that in 2024 Brentwood was designated the U-Pick Capital, recognized for more than 60 family-owned farms. Brentwood sits inside the Contra Costa American Viticultural Area, a federal designation granted in 2024.

Those farms are the reason the disclosure exists. They are also the reason people move here.

Is the farmland around Brentwood permanent?

More of it is than was true a year ago.

On June 2, 2026, Contra Costa County voters approved Measure A, which extends the county's Urban Limit Line through December 31, 2051, adopts an updated map, retains the 65/35 Land Preservation Standard, and requires voter approval to expand the line by more than 30 acres except in limited circumstances.

The 65/35 standard limits urban development to no more than 35 percent of land in the county, preserving at least 65 percent for agriculture, open space, wetlands, parks and other non-urban uses. Per the county's staff report, the measure moved 11,063 acres outside the line and 1,603 acres inside it, a net contraction of 9,460 acres.

That answers the question buyers actually ask, which is whether the field across the road stays a field. It does not answer it for any specific parcel, and I have written separately about how to check a specific parcel.

If you're buying or selling near Brentwood's farms

If you're buying: read the right-to-farm disclosure rather than initialing it, and ask specifically what is grown on the adjoining land and when it is sprayed and harvested. Visit the property once early on a weekday morning during harvest, because that is when a working farm is loudest and the smells are strongest.

If you're selling: deliver the city disclosure on time. The ordinance sets an outside deadline of five days before title transfer, and a late ag disclosure is an easy, avoidable reason for a buyer to reopen a deal that was already closing.

Frequently asked questions about buying near Brentwood farmland

How close to a farm do I have to be for Brentwood's disclosure to apply?

Brentwood Municipal Code section 8.01.060 applies to property adjacent to or within 2,000 feet of agricultural land. The separate state Notice of Right to Farm under Civil Code section 1103.4 applies within one mile of land designated on the Important Farmland Map.

When does the seller have to give me the disclosure?

As soon as practicable after an offer, and no later than five days before transfer of title, under section 8.01.060.

Can I sue a neighboring farm over dust, noise or spraying?

Brentwood's ordinance states that a properly operated agricultural operation is not a nuisance, and the state notice warns that buyers may be barred from legal remedies against agricultural practices conducted consistently with proper and accepted customs under Civil Code section 3482.5. The city ordinance provides a grievance and arbitration procedure instead. Talk to your own attorney about any specific dispute.

Does the city require a buffer between new homes and farmland?

Section 8.01.110 allows an agricultural buffer or transition area in developments adjacent to agriculturally designated land, evaluated case by case. It is a city option, not an automatic setback you can assume.

Will the farmland around Brentwood be developed?

Measure A, approved June 2, 2026, extends the county Urban Limit Line through December 31, 2051 and retains the 65/35 standard, a net 9,460-acre contraction. That constrains where urban development can go countywide, but does not make any individual parcel permanently protected. That is a separate title question.

The Bottom Line on Buying Near Brentwood's Farms

Brentwood wrote its own right-to-farm ordinance in 1999 because it expected homes and farms to sit close together, and they do. Within 2,000 feet of ag land you get a written disclosure, due no later than five days before close.

Read it. The farms are not going anywhere, which is mostly the good news, and occasionally the reason someone wishes they had visited at 6 a.m. in September.

Looking at a home near the ag core?

Send me the address and I will tell you what is farmed next to it before you write an offer.

See homes for sale in Brentwood

Selling a home near agricultural land? Start with a valuation, or call or text 925-250-9611.

Sources

City of Brentwood Municipal Code, Chapter 8.01, Right to Farm (Ordinance 612, 1999) for the 2,000-foot trigger, the five-day-before-title-transfer deadline, the not-a-nuisance provision, the grievance and arbitration procedure, and the agricultural buffer provision at 8.01.110.

California Department of Conservation, Farmland Mapping and Monitoring Program and California Civil Code sections 1103.4 and 3482.5 for the one-mile Notice of Right to Farm, the five Important Farmland Map designations, and the January 1, 2009 effective date under AB 2881.

City of Brentwood, Agritourism for the 11,000-acre Agricultural Core, more than 500,000 annual farm visitors, more than $12 million contributed toward easements preserving 988 acres, the 2024 U-Pick Capital designation, more than 60 family-owned farms, and the 2024 Contra Costa American Viticultural Area designation.

Contra Costa County Elections, Measure A and the county's Urban Limit Line renewal staff report for the December 31, 2051 extension, the 65/35 Land Preservation Standard, the 30-acre voter-approval threshold, and the 11,063-acre contraction against 1,603-acre expansion producing a net 9,460-acre reduction.

Ordinances and maps change. Confirm the current requirements for any specific property with the City of Brentwood and your own advisors during your contingency period.

Jaz Chand, Broker Associate | Homes With Accent
The Jaz Team at Merrill Signature Properties | DRE #01751823
Phone/Text: 925-250-9611 | Jaz@HomesWithAccent.com

General information only, not legal advice, and not a representation about any specific property or agricultural operation. Confirm all disclosure obligations with the City of Brentwood, your escrow officer and your own attorney.