County prepares to adopt livestock regulations

By JoAn Bjarko
North Forty News

Seven years ago, a plan to change animal regulations in the Larimer County Land Use Code drew hordes of angry citizens to the courthouse, causing the county commissioners to dump all portions of the code pertaining to animals a day after the hearing started.

Much has happened since, and adding small animal regulations to the code in 2004 sparked little notice. Now, however, it's time to talk about horses, emu, alpacas and rabbits, to name a few of the animals considered livestock.

The county planning commission will hold a public hearing on proposed livestock regulations on Jan. 18, 6:30 p.m., in the courthouse offices building in downtown Fort Collins. No date has been set for a hearing by the county commissioners, who make the final decision.

At press time, the regulations were still being drafted, but they should be available online at www.larimer.org prior to the hearing. The county's code does not affect property within a town or city.

Concepts about regulating large animals have evolved since 1998. In the intervening years, an appointed, volunteer animal task force held meetings throughout the county to gather ideas. The county's agricultural advisory board has also debated the issue, and many drafts have come and gone.

Overall, the proposed regulations are less stringent, with the exception of keeping horses on individual lots, according to Al Kadera, principal planner for the county. Even then, new regulations will not affect any existing legal use involving horses or other livestock, he said.

Current regulations on residential properties allow one horse per half acre. The proposed changes are based on the concept of a stocking rate that allows one animal equivalent unit for every acre available to the animals. A horse is one unit. Fifty rabbits are one unit.

The phrase "available to the animal" means that portions of the property with a house, garage or driveway are not counted toward the available acreage. Consequently, future horse owners will need more land than is now required to keep horses. Stocking rates can be exceeded, however, if the livestock owner gets approval through the county's special review process.

Kadera noted that the proposed regulations avoid any performance requirements for keeping livestock. Whether an animal is properly fed and cared for falls under the jurisdiction of the Humane Society, not land use, he said. Larimer County Extension provides educational outreach on topics such as animal husbandry, he added, but it is not in the enforcement business. The regulations also do not deal with issues such as dust control or weeds.

The simplicity of stocking rates means the county planning staff can easily answer questions about livestock. "We don't have to say 'maybe' - we can figure it out," Kadera said.

Where the current code says nothing about ostriches, emu, sheep or goats, for example, the proposed code says five goats or five sheep are one unit. Two ostriches or eight emu are one unit.

Typical ranching operations on large acreages do not fall under the livestock regulations, but new and expanded dairies will if the changes are adopted. The proposed regulations also increase from 30 days to 90 days the time a livestock producer can confine cattle in a small area prior to shipping them to market.

Livestock regulations are not new, Kadera noted. Larimer County has regulated some livestock issues since 1963 when it adopted zoning laws. Enforcement, however, generally occurs only when someone files a complaint.