Members of Marion City Council continue to discuss a proposal to tighten up regulations regarding farm-type animals within the City. The latest draft of the ordinance calls for an animal owner to have one acre of land per animal. In other words, if you wish to own a chicken within the City limits, you must live on at least one acre of land.
The issue of changing and/or tightening up the regulations began at City Council a few months ago when a City resident complained that a neighbor was housing multiple chickens that were causing a terrible odor problem. This resident said she had been shuffled from department to department with no action being taken.
Assistant Marion City Law Director Steve Chaffin said Monday that the neighbor in question had gone to court on charges recently, but the City lost the case because of a defect in the City ordinance. He says the neighbor and her landlord have been brought up on additional charges they hope stand a better chance of garnering a conviction. The changes suggested for the existing ordinance could have resulted in a conviction, according to Chaffin.
The major changes to the existing ordinance would be the addition of a section that reads:
The owner, keeper, or harborer of any horses, mules, cattle, sheep, goats, swine, or fowl shall provide a clean and dry shelter of such size as to permit an adequate bedding and feeding area. Animals housed in such shelter shall have direct access to an adjacent fenced area of not less than one acre per animal, for the purpose of feeding and exercising. Such fenced area and shelter shall be maintained in such sanitary condition that no person will be offended by an odors or pests caused by the keeping of such animals or fowl. The one acre fenced exercise area is not applicable to veterinary hospitals or where animals are housed to participate in or be shown in competition.
At this point, the changes are simply a suggestion and are a work in progress. City Council and the City Administration plan to continue discussing the issue during meetings of the Legislation, Codes, and Regulations Committee. At their meeting Monday, officials continued stressing that those who are in 4-H will not be adversely affected by any changes to the law.
Mayor Scott Schertzer says the proposed changes have come because of several complaints from neighbors, but also pointed to a horse that was found wandering the City a few weeks ago and a recent question from a resident asking if they were allowed to bury a horse in their backyard.
Councilman Jim Gilsdorf said he was in favor of strengthening the current codes, but had some concerns. He pointed to the section that says “no one” will be offended by the smell and inferred that wording could cause a tidal wave of complaints. He shared that a neighbor once filed a complaint on him because she didn’t like the way his newly laid mulch smelled.
Gilsdorf also expressed a concern over enforcement. He referred to the woman described earlier in this article, reminding the administration that she had been dealing with her issues for eight years and everyone kept telling her it was someone else’s responsibility to enforce.
“Who will enforce this? We need a clear line explaining who will enforce this,” stated Gilsdorf. He said without that, the City would just be continuing the “mishmash” they currently have. “
Some have questioned the need for changes at all. Marion resident Sulu Kelley III told council members that it seemed to him that it wasn’t the fact that people have the farm-type animals, but it’s really the state in which they are kept. He said that in the example of the neighbor with the chickens the City could have used the filth ordinance that is already there.
“If we can’t enforce the ordinances we already have on the books, how are we going to enforce this one?” asked Kelley.
The committee promised to discuss the proposed changes more at their next meeting on October 19. Some suggestions they will be considering are allowing pot-bellied pigs and adding llamas to the restricted list. The committee members did agree the updated ordinance should not allow for anyone to be grandfathered in and thereby allowed to keep the animals they may already own.
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