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Council sends horse-limit draft back to planning after extensive public comment
Summary
After extended discussion and public testimony about 4‑H families, lot sizes and animal welfare, the council asked the planning commission to revisit the draft horse limit and recommended a version that would allow one horse per 0.5 acre.
The Wellsville City Council on Sept. 17 reviewed a proposed code amendment to reintroduce a horse limit in city code and, after public comment and council debate, voted to send the proposal back to the planning commission with a recommendation to consider one horse per 0.5 acre.
Scott, the staff presenter, explained that the draft was intended to restore language omitted from the city’s recent recodification. The version discussed in the meeting read initially as "2 horses per acre and 1 additional horse for each additional acre or portion thereof." Council members and residents raised concerns about how portions of an acre would be interpreted and the policy’s effect on youth 4‑H participants and long-standing hobby farms.
Resident Vicki Gates, who said she had asked staff about the code when she moved to Wellsville, told the council that some properties she knows host 12–16 horses and that having a clear code is important: "They have 16 horses," she said, describing a nearby property where grazing conditions appear poor.
Councilors debated alternatives such as keeping a one-acre minimum or defining limits by 0.5-acre increments. Carl moved that the council recommend sending the amendment to the planning commission with language for 1 horse per 0.5 acre; the motion passed by voice vote. Scott said the planning commission will return a final recommendation to the council for the formal code amendment process.
