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<br />t:L <br />--- <br /> <br />CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION l <br /> <br /> <br />Topic Report: The regulation of non-domestic animals <br /> <br />By: Amber G. Miller, Community Development Director <br /> <br />Background: <br /> <br />Recently while following up on another zoning issue, the planning division discovered a property owner <br />maintaining approximately thirty chickens and one turkey on their 2.5 acre parcel. Current code prOhibits the <br />maintenance of horses, llamas, cows, mules, donkeys, burros, ponies, goats, pigs, sheep, lambs, turkey, ~eese, <br />chickens and ducks on any parcel that is not at least three acres in size. Requests have come up in the past to <br />. allow non-domestic animals on smaller lots in the past. Staff discussed this internally and felt this was a policy <br />issue that needed additional direction. With current sustainability issues, there is some justification for the <br />allowance of smaller property owners the ability to have some egg producing fowl or a milk producing cow. This <br />would have to be balanced with the surrounding neighborhood to insure their presence on the property wilL not <br />be a source of nuisance or annoyance to the occupants of the adjacent properties. <br /> <br />Additionally, bee keeping is not currently addressed by our ordinance in any way. This is a question that <br />typically comes up a couple of times a year, so it should probably either be allowed or disallowed by code. <br />Staying silent on the issue may allow the Council to consider it under a conditional use permit as an "exotic <br />animal", which is currently defined. Honeybees and other bee pollinators playa major role in the function of our <br />ecosystem and our food web. Honeybees are an integral part of fruit and vegetable production as well as flower <br />blooms due to their role as pollinators. Furthermore, a number of beneficial products come from honeybees <br />including, honey, propolis, pollen and beeswax, with uses ranging from food to candles to nutritional <br />supplements and medicine. However, the honeybee populations across the country are beginning to decline <br />due to disease, parasitic mites and something known as colony collapse disorder. Considering the vital role that <br />honeybees play, it seems prudent to consider permitting, at least to some extent, beekeeping in the City. <br /> <br />Furthermore, rabbits are not defined in our city code and should probably be included somewhere in the <br />definition. Attached is the existing ordinance for your information. <br /> <br />Several surrounding communities have current ordinances for the keeping of non-domestic animals and a <br />summary has been for your review. There are several things to consider if the Council wishes to change <br />existing regulations. <br /> <br />1. Do you want to change the regulations for fowl, and. hoofed animals or just fowl? Fowl may require less <br />space and be less intrusive than the larger animals. <br /> <br />2. What would be the permitting process required? Would you want to leave the three acre requirement <br />and have anything fewer than three acres go through a conditional use process or change the entire <br />process to require anyone who is not zoned agricultural to go through a similar process (i.e. permit or <br />license as required by other communities) or an Interim Use Permit? <br /> <br />- <br />3. Do we want to require an enclosure? The code currently does not require a shelter or a fencing of any <br />kind. <br />