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Silver Creek Township directs draft of stricter dog-barking ordinance after resident complaints
Summary
After residents described continuous barking that they say is affecting quality of life, the board voted to have the chair and township attorney draft an amendment that would set nighttime quiet hours (9 or 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.) and return for review at the February meeting.
Chair Mike Helman called a review of the township’s dog ordinance after residents raised concerns about persistent nighttime barking. A homeowner at 12946 County Road 8 told the board the problem “was getting worse,” saying neighbors’ dogs bark “at all hours of the day,” which the homeowner said was affecting their household’s quality of life. Another homeowner at 12986 County Road 8 said their dogs are used to protect sheep, that they have erected fences to keep the animals on their property, and that they believed barking had decreased.
The board reviewed ordinances from Southside, Clearwater and Rockford Townships as models. Several supervisors said they were balancing the need to address nuisance barking with protections for farms and businesses. Supervisors Ryan Nelson and Andy Christensen both expressed support for a time-based approach similar to Clearwater Township’s, which prohibits barking from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Nelson moved, and Christensen seconded, that the chair work with the township attorney to draft an amendment that would prohibit dogs from barking during a nighttime window (Nelson said the board should consider either a 9 p.m. or 10 p.m. start time through 6 a.m.). The motion carried 4-0.
The board instructed the chair to bring the attorney’s draft back at the first meeting in February for review; if the attorney cannot present the proposed amendment by then, the item will be scheduled for a later meeting. No final ordinance was adopted at this meeting.
