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Commissioners deny request to keep miniature therapeutic horses on substandard lot
Summary
A Cobb County rezoning amendment that would have allowed two miniature therapeutic horses on a 0.459‑acre lot was denied; the board said federal disability laws do not override local zoning minimum lot‑size requirements in this instance.
The Cobb County Board of Commissioners on Sept. 16 denied a homeowner's request to allow two miniature therapeutic horses on a 0.459‑acre lot, finding the parcel is smaller than the 2‑acre minimum required for that use and that the proposed accommodation did not, in the board's view, compel an exception under federal disability law.
The applicant and her attorney told the board the horses are being trained under Miniature Equine Therapy Standards Association (METSA)‑aligned methods and argued the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act entitle disabled household members to reasonable accommodation. The attorney described training, sanitation and manure‑management plans and said the animals would be trained to perform specific mitigating tasks.
Commissioners acknowledged the therapeutic value of service animals but said the parcel size, which the county's zoning code requires to be a minimum of 2 acres for this type of use, is a dispositive factor. Commissioner Sheffield said the board must "apply zoning standards consistently" and concluded that denying the application would not violate the ADA or the Fair Housing Act in this matter.
The board voted 3‑0 to deny the request. Commissioners noted the applicant is pursuing a larger property and suggested that an appropriately sized parcel could host the animals in the future, and that federal accommodation rights could be considered in that different context.
