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Council discussion moves toward tightening animal-keeping rules; staff to draft changes and schedule public hearing
Summary
Speakers debated removing livestock allowances from smaller residential zones, clarifying definitions of 'small' and 'farm' animals, raising acreage thresholds to one acre for larger animals, and explicitly prohibiting pigs. Staff will circulate revisions and aim for a public hearing at the first August meeting.
An extended discussion at the Corinne city council meeting examined proposed changes to the city's animal-keeping ordinance, with speakers saying a neighbor's goats have repeatedly strayed and created public-health and nuisance concerns.
In an on-the-record exchange, an unidentified speaker described the situation: "This goat situation that we're dealing with now has made the lives of, like, 6 surrounding families miserable." The speaker pressed the council to remove livestock allowances from R-1 and R-2 residential lots and tighten definitions that now allow a wide range of "other small animals."
Supporters of a stricter rule said the current language opens a loophole: "Small animals is the way it reads... that opens the door to anybody to come in and say, well I have a goat that's only this little," another unidentified speaker said, urging the council to define farm animals more precisely. Several participants proposed raising the minimum lot size for larger animals from a half-acre to a full acre so only genuinely larger parcels would qualify.
At the staff level, one participant summarized the drafting plan: "So I'll make those changes. I'll send them out and then we can schedule a public hearing," and noted that the public hearing would likely be set "probably August, the first meeting in August." The suggested changes enumerated in the discussion included removing the phrase "other small animals," adding explicit definitions for permitted animals (listing horses, cattle, sheep and goats), and inserting a prohibition on pigs in residential classifications.
Speakers weighed trade-offs. Some urged strict removal of livestock from smaller lots to prevent repeat nuisance problems and odor/rodent issues; others recommended making the lot-size threshold larger (one acre) so long-standing, well-managed properties would not be unduly penalized. Council participants also discussed grandfathering/noncompliance mechanics for properties that no longer meet reworded rules.
Next steps: staff will revise ordinance text to clarify definitions, add or remove enumerated animal categories per the council's direction, and circulate the draft for review; a public hearing was proposed for the first council meeting in August to consider the ordinance changes.
The discussion produced direction to staff but no final ordinance adoption at this meeting.
