LAKEPORT — A county decision regarding the future of pigs being raised on suburban rural-zoned land has again been suspended.
The proposed amendment to article nine of the county zoning ordinance was continued at the Board of Supervisors” Tuesday meeting, making this the third time the issue has been tabled.
Originally discussed at the Board of Supervisors” Aug. 8 meeting as an amendment to the county zoning ordinance pertaining to animal density on suburban rural parcels, the issue will now undergo a title change.
As previously proposed, the amendment would have required anyone wishing to raise pigs on suburban rural-zoned land to get a permit in order to do so. Section 9.16 of the ordinance allows a density of, among other farm animals listed, “one hog or pig per 80,000 square feet of area.”
The revised version, offered in two parts, will reinforce how animal nuisance issues are addressed by Animal Care & Control rather than Community Development and change the distance animals are required to be penned from a neighbor”s property line in the zoning ordinance currently 50 feet to 100 feet.
“The nuisance part of it is the best part of it because it”s needed. Before, the only tool you had to use to mitigate a problem was to find that that person was abusing the animals,” said property owner Gerald Shaul Sr.
Shaul owns a subdivided suburban rural-zoned property in Lakeport adjacent to a neighbor, business owner Paul Villenueva, whose son keeps pigs approximately 20 feet from Shaul”s son Karl”s property line, and approximately 40 feet from his house. Public Works Director Gerald Shaul Jr. lives on another subdivision of the parcel.
Shaul Sr. said Tuesday that the pigs” odor can be smelled from all three homes on his subdivided land at certain times of the day. Pointing to his son”s sliding glass door and back windows, Shaul said, “he hasn”t been able to open these windows or use his swamp cooler because of the smell.”
Ryan Villenueva maintained a different point of view, saying outside chambers after the issue was continued Aug. 22 that “there was no nuisance issue until he built his home next to my pig pen.”
Villenueva”s keeping of the pigs, and the exact locale, has been a sore spot between the neighbors for three years. Shaul said Tuesday of Villenueva”s statement that it was “a stretch.”
Shaul said he went to the county”s Animal Control and Community Development de-partments three years ago to attempt to resolve the issue, and at that time he was told the zoning ordinance was worded ambiguously regarding the keeping of animals.
“I don”t think that the intent of the zoning ordinance was to ever allow the bunching up of the allowed number of animals in one pen 20 feet from a neighbor”s property or 40 feet from their home,” said Shaul.
Between the Aug. 8 and Aug. 22 Board of Supervisors meetings, a separate informal meeting was held between Community Development Director Mary Jane Fagalde; Chuck March, executive director of Lake County Farm Bureau; Supervisor Rob Brown; 4-H and FFA leaders; and Villenueva to discuss possible alternatives.
March suggested approaching the issue as an amendment to chapter four of the Lake County code which addresses how Animal Control handles nuisance issues having to do with animals, fish and fowl rather than addressing it as a zoning ordinance.
Citing the need to confer with Animal Control Director Denise Johnson before making a decision, the board opted to continue the item to the Sept. 19 meeting.
According to County Counsel Anita Grant, the only action the board could take Tuesday was to reschedule the discussion of the issue to a later agenda, unless they wanted to adopt the amendment to article nine as it was originally proposed.
The issue will be discussed under its new heading at 10 a.m. during the board”s Oct. 10 meeting.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com.
