Commissioners favor acreage-based animal limits, ask staff to clarify permit roles and home-occupation rules

Staff and animal-control personnel presented proposed revisions intended to simplify animal-keeping rules by tying allowable animals to lot acreage instead of zoning codes. Rick Boyd, the city’s animal-control officer, summarized enforcement concerns including barking, traffic from customer-facing pet businesses and disposal of hair and feces.

Public commenters urged realistic acreage thresholds for large animals; Kim Ordemond said 1 acre was too small to support four horses and described shelter, manure and fly-management needs. Commissioners and staff discussed an Additional Animal Entitlement (AAE) process for exceptions that would notify property owners within 300 feet and treat animal-control permits as the primary administrative path. The draft removed many references to planning permits and recommended animal control process the majority of animal licensing and AAE reviews, with planning assisting on code language.

Commissioners also debated whether certain pet-related businesses (grooming, daycares) should be allowed as home occupations and, if allowed, how to limit customer traffic (examples included permitting only mobile grooming or limiting customers per day). Several commissioners asked staff to clarify when a single-family home on commercially zoned land should have animal allowances based on the residential portion of the lot rather than total commercial property size. The commission asked staff to produce clearer code language, spell out appeals and notice processes, and hold at least one additional study session on animal-keeping and a separate one on home-occupation rules. No formal code change or vote occurred at the session.