1 | Animal Keeping Code Revisions | ||||||
Public Works Streets Director Scott Overton introduced Zero Waste Coordinator Dylan Lenzen who gave a presentation to Council. Mr. Overton stated that he is looking for direction and that Mr. Lenzen will be back in October for another presentation to Council. Mr. Overton added that the discussion will be very high-level for general direction. The following individuals addressed Council regarding the Animal Keeping Code Revisions: Jason Hartsell stated that he has concerns about the proposed code. He believes that the permitting system is a great idea and asked what the schedule would be for the quarterly inspections and how they would be scheduled. He stated that he also has concerns regarding keeping animals in runs. He also inquired about pre-existing structures and the plans that they already have and asked that a conversation is held about pre-existing structures. He stated that he is also concerned about the costs associated with quarterly inspections. He suggested a lower level of inspection based if an owner has animal handling education and experience. Councilmember Whelan asked if any of Mr. Hartsell’s neighbors have complained about his chickens. He stated that they have not and that they give eggs to their neighbors. Ben Brown, who lives in lower Greenlaw, stated that he has a problem with a neighbor with two goats. He stated that the smell is terrible and that mosquitos have increased with the introduction of the goats. He stated they cannot stand to be in their backyard. His deed restriction states that there should be no goats. Councilmember Aslan asked if the new code would make neighbors have to ask for permission to keep animals or just notify neighbors of the animals. Mr. Lenzen stated that there are both options available for discussion. Councilmember Whelan asked if Mr. Lenzen had a guess regarding the number of goats in city limits. Mr. Lenzen stated that there were 40 complaints related to animal keeping, not tied to just goats. He will work on tracking down the number associated with goats and report back to the Council. Councilmember Whelan also asked about the barking ordinance. Mr. Overton stated that there is a nuisance code that applies to barking dogs. Mr. Solomon stated that barking dogs that disturb a person are addressed under the police regulations as a prohibited act day or night. Vice Mayor Shimoni inquired about goats and food security. Mr. Lenzen stated that the pygmy goats provide a small amount of milk and that they seem to be being kept as pets or as breeding stock. Vice Mayor Shimoni also asked where livestock of this size are allowed. Mr. Lenzen stated that small livestock are allowed in all zones in small lot sizes. Vice Mayor Shimoni stated that he thinks chickens should have free run and that he does not think there is adequate staffing for a permitting system. He stated he likes the idea about neighbor approval. Mayor Evans stated that there needs to be a fee for a permit system and there needs to be a program to regulate urban farming with a permitting process and education. She added that the fee could also offset the cost of inspections and stated that she feels that goats should not be allowed. She also stated a concern regarding chicken coops near someone else’s window. She added she would like to see regulations on footage away from a fence and placement on a property and agreed that chickens should be allowed to free roam and that a person could place a fence within a fence. She ended with saying that there needs to be a total number of animals per property and a requirement for cleaning up animal waste. Councilmember McCarthy stated that zoning is in place to prevent the problems that are currently being faced. He added that ideas for rules regulating chickens can be created and if there are rules for where humans can live, there can be similar rules for livestock. He would like to see setback rules as restrictive as they are for humans, but said that neighbor approval for animal keeping is problematic. He stated that reasonable rules for chickens should be made and that goats should have considerable setbacks only in very rural residential. He stated that he feels that permits are a lot of busy work for staff, but he is open-minded on the subject and that he would like to see fewer inspections and investigations based on complaints. Councilmember Aslan stated that there should not be goats in smaller lots and that he believes there should be a permitting process. He added that he would like to see a sliding scale for the frequency of inspections with fewer inspections over time based on previous inspections. He would like to see increased setbacks and is concerned about constricting chickens to runs at all times. He does not feel that it would a good idea to grandfather already owned goats into the code. Councilmember Odegaard is not in favor of having goats in lots under 40,000 sq. ft. As far as permitting, he stated that there is a policy of 100% cost recovery and for consistency, he would like to see the cost of staff time recovered. He is not in favor of quarterly or yearly inspections and have inspections complaint-based. He would like to see the permitting for chicken coops be very simple. Mayor Evans stated that there is not cost recovery on every permit. She stated that some people are raising animals for food and she believes that there needs to be a fee for the permit, but she does not know if there should be a full cost recovery. Councilmember Odegaard stated that he was suggesting a one-time fee. Mayor Evans feels that there should be a fee, but it might not be 100% cost recovery. She added that she does not want to price anyone out of having backyard agriculture. She is concerned about people who are being inconsiderate with the set-up of their chicken coops. Vice Mayor Shimoni stated that he has concerns about an interior property line fence for allowing chickens to roam. He added that he is open to setbacks and is curious to hear more about that from the community. He stated that he is also open to a one-time permit fee and to use a complaint-based process for inspections. He added that he would also like to see an educational piece like a video on backyard agriculture. Councilmember McCarthy stated that the coops might be the only thing addressed by the setback and that he agreed that a one-time permit would be best with complaint-based inspections. He added the thought that the application fee would be determined by the number of animals. Mr. Overton reiterated the direction he heard from Council which included that goats could only be allowed on large lots (over 40,000) with setbacks, that chickens and smaller stocks would need to have setbacks looked at and respectable roaming included, and that a permitting system with sliding scale inspections or complaint-based inspections be included. He added that there could be a goat relocation program. Mayor Evans inquired about pigs. Staff replied that swine are in the large livestock category only. Mr. Dille added that there were some complaints regarding pigs in Greenlaw, but that they were domesticated so they are not covered by the code. |
|||||||
Moved by Councilmember Charlie Odegaard, seconded by Councilmember Jamie Whelan to continue the meeting in accordance with the Council Rules of Procedure. | |||||||
Vote: 7 - 0 - Unanimously | |||||||