Planning and Zoning OKs higher animal-control fines, directs draft of updated code

The Orangeville Planning and Zoning Commission voted to approve proposed increases to animal-control citation amounts and directed staff to prepare final code language for public notice and hearing.

Commissioners said the update is intended to make enforcement more effective after a year of recurring complaints about loose, nuisance and biting animals and to help fund additional animal-control coverage. Staff said the working proposal raises many fines roughly one-third on average, with some higher increases, and includes clarifications on nuisance definitions, quarantine and seizure of biting animals.

Commissioners said animal-control responsibilities currently fall on a single officer and that adding officers had prompted reconsideration of enforcement and fee levels. Staff identified three animal-control officers (current, on-call and backup) and said the revised fines would help cover staffing costs. The commission discussed distinctions between “loud or offensive animal” and “public nuisance,” and asked staff to align language across those code sections.

Discussion covered specific operational points: when a contractor27s license is required, when an animal must be quarantined and who pays for quarantine, whether biting animals may be seized and euthanized if unclaimed or unvaccinated, and the limits of city authority for nuisance wildlife and for county properties. Commissioners and staff also discussed practical steps for enforcement: issuing warnings vs. citations, adding a fixed payment deadline on the citation form (suggested 30 days from issuance), and asking applicants for licenses to attend the Planning and Zoning meeting so expectations are clear.

The commission asked staff to produce a finalized draft that: (1) incorporates the suggested citation increases, (2) consolidates overlapping nuisance language, (3) clarifies timelines for payment and enforcement steps, and (4) lists which animals and circumstances (e.g., multiple bites, unvaccinated animals) trigger seizure or other remedies. Staff said the finalized language will be posted for the required 20-day public notice and public hearing before any ordinance change takes effect.

Less-critical discussion included stray-cat handling and practical challenges catching feral animals, the city27s current practice of returning trapped, sterilized cats to the area where they were captured (a practice staff said is state-guided), limits on kennel licenses in residential zones, and housekeeping items such as whether to add an explicit code entry for destruction of public property by animals.

The commission approved the citation increases and associated direction to staff by voice vote. Commissioners and staff stressed that routine complaints would still generally begin with warnings and that citations would be targeted at persistent or dangerous cases to encourage owner compliance.

The commission asked staff to return with a final draft that references existing state and local code provisions and to identify any items that must be added as new ordinance language.