Supervisors agreed Tuesday that a new ordinance regulating how
people use their land is not the way to address recent nuisance
complaints between neighbors.
Hollister – Supervisors agreed Tuesday that a new ordinance regulating how people use their land is not the way to address recent nuisance complaints between neighbors.
The disputers have often centered on 5-acre parcels that some owners have used for such things as private rodeos, dirt-bike tracks, or to raise chickens and roosters.
“There’s been kind of a clamor from residents in the county that we need to take some action,” Board Chair Reb Monaco said.
County regulations allow owners of land zoned for agriculture to divide their property into parcels that are five-acres or larger and sell the individual parcels. Though zoned for agriculture, many parcel owners use them as home sites and for purposes other than agriculture. While that’s legal, some neighbors are tired of the noise.
Earlier this year, Supervisor Don Marcus received several complaints about the noise created by a rooster ranch on the corner Lone Tree and Pan Tempo roads. There are some 500 roosters on the property. In July, he said he was looking into how to create a strictly enforced noise ordinance. On Tuesday, he backed-off of that idea and said he hopes neighbors can work problems out among themselves.
“First, the part of this that is disappointing to me is that government has to get involved at all. In the past neighbors got along and could work out problems on their own,” he said. “That we have to get involved is very disheartening to me.”
The consensus among the board seemed to be that an ordinance restricting noise or land use could not be crafted to fit the county’s diverse landscape.
“I am concerned that we are going to develop some law or ordinance that fits everybody – that doesn’t happen usually,” Monaco said.
Supervisor Pat Loe agreed.
“I don’t believe we can come up with a 100 percent solution,” she said.
Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz said he was concerned that personal property rights might be violated, adding that he would support property owner’s right to use their land as they see fit.
“We’re kind of opening a box, going in a real slippery slope angle,” he said. “As soon as you violate someone’s property rights, I will stand with them.”
After a lengthy discussion, supervisors directed the planning department to review zoning ordinances to see if something already exists that gives the department the discretion to determine if a particular land use fits a particular area.
Luke Roney covers politics and the environment for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at lr****@fr***********.com
