Ramsey Resident - 2001 - May/June

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CITY NEWSLETTER CITY TO CONSIDER AMENDMENTS TO REGULATIONS FOR KEEPING FARM ANIMALS AND HORSES By: Community Development Director Sylvia Frolik City Staffhas been worl<ing with the Horse Care Board for several months to review and update the City's regulations for l<eeping farm animals, horses and exotic animals. The current farm animal ordinance states that a property owner may have two goats, pigs or cows in any combination, as long as they have between 3 and 20 acres of land and a conditional use permit from the City. Beyond 20 acres, there are no limits on the type and number of animals a property owner may have, as long as they aren't creating a nuisance. The current horse ordinance states that if a property owner has 3 acres, they are entitled to a maximum of2 horses and they can have 1 additional horse for every additional 'li acre over 3 acres that they own. Persons with parcels ranging in size from 1.5 to 2.9 acres may apply to the City for a special permit to have a maximum of2 horses on their property. Horses are prohibited on properties less than 1.5 acres in size. Currently, there are no regulations regarding the l<eeping of exotic animals such as ostriches. The result of this effort is threefold. First of all, it is being recommended that the farm animal regulations in Section 5.09.01 of City Code redefine the list offarm animals to include mules, donl<eys, burros, ponies, sheep, lamb, turl<ey, geese, chicl<ens and ducl<s, as well as cows, pigs and goats. Each type of animal is assigned a number of animal units based on their production of waste. Then an appropriate number of animal units is prescribed for various size parcels ranging from 3 to 20+ acres. The following is the proposed unit assignments for the various types of animals and the proposed number of units that would be allowed on parcels based on their size. (When horses or equines are l<ept on a property in combination with other farm animals, horses will be assigned an animal unit of 1 ; when equines are the only type of animall<ept on a property, the number allowed will continue to be based on parcel size. Continued on Page 2 JUNE 2001, VOLUME 16, No.4 NEW PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT ON THE WAY FOR RABBIT PARK! ! Tal<e notice of the new playground equipment installed at Rabbit Parl< this spring. Rabbit Park is located on Rabbit Street, approximately 700' feet north of 173rd Avenue in the northwest portion of Ramsey. The City has budgeted funds from the recycling program to provide Rabbit Parl< with new parl< equipment that is made from Recycled Products. The money being used is allocated from SCORE funds, which is a grant that the City of Ramsey receives from Anoka County Integrated Waste as a direct result of Ramsey's successful recycling efforts. The new equipment made from recycled materials will consist of a playstructure with slide, a bench, a plastic timber stairway to the existing slide, a waste receptacle and a sign. The existing playground equipment will be examined for modern safety standards and will be removed if found to be unsafe. Below is a picture of the existing playground equipment at Rabbit Parl<. Continuing success in residential recycling may result in additional phases to the playstrucure. For more information on recycling, please call Megan Wald at (763) 427-1410. For Parl<related questions or ideas call Marl<Boos at (763) 427-8254. Stay tuned for the next newsletter to see the result of the first Recycled Playground Proj ect!