Apple Valley adopts pig ordinance, council agrees to review buffer and conditional-use process

Apple Valley’s Town Council on Jan. 15 adopted a new livestock ordinance that allows residents on agricultural parcels of 10 acres or more to keep up to 15 pigs without a conditional‑use permit and up to 25 pigs with a conditional‑use permit.

The ordinance (O-2025-01, Title 10.41) was described at the meeting as the result of planning‑commission review and public comment. Mayor (unnamed) said the ordinance reduces the number of pigs that can be kept without review and sets a 10‑acre minimum for agricultural parcels. “Basically, you can have 15 pigs without a conditional use permit. If you want more than 15 pigs, then you have to get a conditional use permit, but no keeping over 25 pigs,” the mayor said during the discussion.

Why it matters: The measure formally allows pigs in Apple Valley for the first time with limits intended to balance small‑scale agriculture and neighboring residential concerns. Council members spent the bulk of discussion on setbacks and how to handle properties where houses are close to farm parcels.

Key provisions and debate - Parcel size and counts: The ordinance sets a 10‑acre minimum for the by‑right allowance and caps animals at 15 without a conditional‑use permit, with a maximum of 25 overall. - Setback requirement: The ordinance specifies a buffer measured from “any adjacent dwelling.” The draft currently reads a 500‑foot setback; multiple council members said that distance can effectively prevent use of most 10‑acre parcels because a 10‑acre parcel is roughly 660 feet across. - Enforcement and nuisance remedies: The mayor noted that nuisance complaints remain the enforcement mechanism: “If there’s any issues with noise, odor, anything like that, all you have to do is file a nuisance complaint…They can be fined. And if it’s not resolved, we can make them get rid of their pigs.”

Council members debated lowering the buffer from 500 feet to 300 feet. Councilmember Scott Taylor and others pressed that a 500‑foot requirement could eliminate most practical locations on typical 10‑acre parcels and proposed a 300‑foot buffer as a compromise. The planning commission representative (Bradley) said the current language applies to “any dwelling on an adjacent property” and did not see a problem with 500 feet as written, but agreed the council could revisit the standard.

Next steps: The council approved the ordinance as drafted but directed staff to place an item on the next agenda to send a conditional‑use‑permit adjustment (including a potential 300‑foot option and language for allowing exceptions via conditional use with neighbor agreements) back to the planning commission for public hearing and recommendation.

Housekeeping ordinances: Council also approved two related, housekeeping ordinances that remove redundant language and cross‑reference the new pig ordinance — amendments to the agricultural zone (O-2025-02, Title 10.100.02) and to the conditional‑use permit section (O-2025-03, Title 10.070.09). The council described these as clerical updates to align the zoning code with the new livestock rules.

Quotes “Basically, you can have 15 pigs without a conditional use permit. If you want more than 15 pigs, then you have to get a conditional use permit, but no keeping over 25 pigs,” Mayor (unnamed) said.

“If your neighbors are already there and it’s not a problem now, the 300 feet probably is enough space in between,” a councilmember said during debate, arguing for a lower buffer in some situations.

Ending Council members emphasized the ordinance is pilotable: the town can amend setbacks or procedures if nuisance complaints arise. They scheduled a follow‑up planning commission review of conditional‑use criteria to handle borderline cases and neighbor agreements.