livestock ordinance got pulled, so where do we draw the line

Saw the city pulled the livestock ordinance after the animal control workshop but they sayin the rest of the animal control stuff is still on the table. So its not over.

I grew up when everybody out past the edge of town had a few chickens and a goat or two and nobody lost sleep. Now you got subdivisions butted right up against folks with 5, 10 acres. Dont think a guy with acreage should be treated like somebody on a quarter acre lot in a neighborhood. But I also get it if the rooster is going at 4am next to your bedroom window.

Acreage rule maybe? Hens ok, roosters and goats only past so many acres? Just thinking out loud. What yall think

Acreage rule sounds fair to me... hens are quiet enough, I'd let those go anywhere with a decent coop. It's the roosters that get people riled up. Goats need real fence and room too... so a few acres for those. Folks out past Bryant proper have always had a few animals, just not right on top of a subdivision.

Just my two cents

Agree on hens, Joyce. I'd go a step further and say acreage alone isn't the whole thing, because 5 acres where the coop sits 20 feet off your neighbor's fence is a lot different than 5 acres where it's out back by the pond. A setback from the property line seems like it would handle more problems than a flat acre number. Same with roosters. Put them far enough from somebody else's bedroom window and nobody cares.

Also something people forget is coops pull in coyotes and raccoons. I hunt deer out that way and the coyotes are already thick. Put a bunch of unsecured chickens at the edge of a subdivision and you've got more critters walking through yards. Goats getting out is the other one. Nobody wants to chase a loose goat down the Parkway after a storm knocked the fence down.

I walk the trails out toward the lake pretty regular and honestly the places with a few hens and a goat along the edge of the woods are some of my favorite stretches. Hope whatever they land on doesn't wipe that out.

Setback beats a flat acre number, agreed. Though knowing how the city works, they'll pick whatever's easiest to enforce, and nobody's going out with a tape measure on a coop. 😅

From the real estate side, buyers ask about this stuff more than you'd think. Folks moving into the newer subdivisions want to know what's allowed next door before they sign.

Joyce yeah hens never bothered nobody, we had a dozen growing up and the neighbors was glad to get eggs. Its the roosters that cause the trouble. Hwylandon's setback idea makes sense to me too, maybe do both, so many acres AND so many feet off the property line. Matthew your probably right tho, city will go with whatever they dont have to go out and measure.

Ronald, I like doing both, acreage and a setback. On my end by the Benton line we've got a bit of everything, a couple of newer subdivisions and then somebody's 8 acres with a barn right behind them. It mostly works because people just talk to each other. A flat rule might break that.

On enforcement, Matthew's right that nobody's going out with a tape measure. I'd rather they go complaint-driven, same as most things. Somebody complains, then they measure. Otherwise it's a rule nobody checks until a neighbor is already mad.

The other thing I haven't seen mentioned is grandfathering. If somebody's had four hens in the back yard for ten years and nobody's ever complained, I don't think they should get a letter because the city picked a number. Write the rule for new setups and deal with problem ones as they come up.

As a gardener I'll say hens are good for a yard. Mine would be if I had them. They go after the bugs, and the manure makes great compost once it's aged. Goats are a different story. They'll eat a garden down to the dirt and walk right through a flimsy fence to do it. So I'd tie goats to real acreage and proper fencing, and keep hens easy.

Since the rest of the animal control stuff is still on the table, I'd rather people who actually have animals show up at the next workshop than just talk about it here. The city mostly hears from whoever shows up.

Yolanda good point on the grandfathering, I didnt even think about that one. Somebody whos had hens ten yrs shouldnt get a leter over a number the city picked. Complaint driven makes sense to me too.

Ill try to make the next workshop, got plenty of opinions and time on my hands. Anybody know when its scheduled? Id trade a rack of ribs for fresh eggs any day too, just sayin