Agenda - Planning Commission - 02/03/1998

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Z.B. January 25, 1998 -.- Page 3 The city complied with the statute when it adopted the interim ordinance. The statute allowed moratoriums of up to one year if they were adopted while studies were being done and if a zoning ordinance was expeditiously adopted. The interim ordinance required the city to study the effects of adult uses on other uses, and the city adopted a permanent ordinance seven months after passing the interim ordinance. The city properly relied on the studies because it reasonably believed the studies were relevant to restricting adult establishments. The permanent ordinance provided alternative locations for Fantasy House to operate. Although the area provided by the ordinance was only .9 Percent of the city's total area, it was 15 percent of the city's industrial and commercial zones. The limited area was the result of the city's overwhelmingly residential character and conservative planning. Each business had to fend for itself in the real estate market and cope with the same problems that all prospective purchasers faced. see also: City of Tenton v. Playtime Theaters Inc., 475 U.S. 41, 106 &Ct. 925, 89 L.Ed.2d 29 (1986). Code Violation w City cites family for having pot-bellied pig City of Lilburn v. Sanchez, 491 S.E. 2d 353 (Georgia) 1997 The Sanchezes owned a .24-acre lot in the city of Lilburn, Ga. They owned a pot-bellied pig named Eugenia, which they kept as a domestic pet. Eugenia spent much, but not all, of her time on the family's property -- and neighbors eventually complained to the city about the pig. The city cited and fined the Sanchezes for violating a municipal criminal ordinance regulating the ownership of pigs. The ordinance made it illegal to keep hogs or pigs within the city, but allowed purebred pot-bellied pigs as household pets provided the lot was at least one acre in size, there was only one pig, and all adjoining property owners signed a statement that they had no objection to the pig. The Sanchezes asked a court to declare that the ordinance was unconstitu- tional. They claimed it violated their due process rights because it wasn't rationally related to a legitimate legislative purpose, arguing it exceeded the scope of the city's police powers. At a hearing, a veterinarian testified that pot-bellied pig waste smelled much stronger than that of dogs and cats and that pot-bellied pigs generated four times as much manure as dogs. The Sanchezes' neighbor testified that his house was 15 to 20 feet from the Sanchez house, and that the smell associated with Eugenia and her by-product was unbearable to the point of nauseating him. He also said the smell of pig manure sometimes permeated the interior of his home. The court upheld the portions of the ordinance that classified pot-bellied pigs as household pets and allowed only one pig per lot. It declared unconstitu- tional the requirements that pot-bellied pigs be kept only on lots of at least one acre in size and then only with the consent of alt adjoining property owners.