Horse Property in Westchester County: Pound Ridge and North Salem

Why these two towns, specifically, out of Westchester's 48 municipalities

Westchester's county hub is direct that the county overall is a mature, fully built-out suburban market, not a raw-land or agricultural one. Pound Ridge and North Salem, in the county's northeast corner along the Connecticut border, are the honest exception -- larger residential lot sizes, a genuinely more rural character, and, distinctively, zoning codes that specifically address keeping horses rather than staying silent on the question the way most of the county's municipal codes do. If horse property is specifically why you're looking at Westchester, these two towns are where the county's own zoning actually accommodates that use in named, codified terms.

Pound Ridge: private stables for up to four horses, no permit required for personal use

Pound Ridge's zoning code (Chapter 113) permits a private stable housing up to four horses, for the exclusive use of the property owner, household, guests, and employees, as an accessory use in its residential districts -- which are themselves acreage-based (the R-3A, R-2A, and R-1A districts require three-, two-, and one-acre minimum lots respectively). The stable itself, and any manure storage, must sit at least 100 feet from any regulated wetland area, street, or property line. The code separately allows keeping goats, at a ratio of no more than one goat per two acres, subject to the same 100-foot setback from regulated areas. Because this is framed as a personal accessory use tied to the property owner, it reads as by-right within the applicable setback, rather than requiring its own separate town approval -- confirm this directly with the town's Building Department before assuming it applies to a specific parcel or a larger, commercial-scale operation.

North Salem: a special-permit process for boarding, breeding, and riding academies

North Salem's zoning code (Section 250-72) takes a more structured, permit-based approach, and specifically covers commercial and larger-scale equestrian use, not just personal horse-keeping. Riding academies, boarding stables, and breeding farms are permitted in the town's R-2 and R-4 residential districts only with a special use permit issued by the Zoning Board of Appeals. As a general rule, no more than one horse per acre is allowed on a site, and applicants must provide one stable stall per horse (unless shown unnecessary), a manure-removal plan, and a rodent/fly control plan as part of the permit -- failure to follow the approved plans is itself a code violation. In the R-4 district specifically, no stabling of animals or storage of manure or other dust-producing material is allowed within 150 feet of any lot line. Special permit applications go through the town's Land Use office (as of this writing, contact is 914-669-0245 or jsantis@northsalemny.org) -- confirm current contacts and application requirements directly, since staff and procedures can change.

What to check before buying horse property in either town

1. For personal, non-commercial horse-keeping in Pound Ridge, confirm the parcel's zoning district (R-3A/R-2A/R-1A) and lot size against the four-horse private-stable limit and 100-foot setback before assuming a specific stable location or horse count is allowed.
2. For any boarding, breeding, or riding-academy use in North Salem, confirm whether the parcel is in the R-2 or R-4 district (where the special permit pathway applies at all) and budget time and cost for the Zoning Board of Appeals special-permit process -- this is not a by-right use.
3. Ask the seller for any existing special permit, its specific conditions, and whether it's transferable to a new owner, if buying an operating boarding or lesson business in North Salem.
4. For either town, confirm current setback and manure-management requirements directly with the town's Building or Land Use department -- zoning code numbering and specific figures can be amended, and this page should not be treated as a substitute for the current code text.