Title
Ordinance No. 23-09 amending the Unified Development Code of the City of Colorado Springs establishing standards for urban agriculture (goats)
Presenter:
Morgan Hester, Planning Supervisor
Ben Bolinger, City Attorney
Body
Summary:
Presentation for discussion and vote on the proposed amendment to the Unified Development Code (UDC) to define regulations for structures related to urban agriculture for the housing of animals, including goats.
Background:
At the October 25, 2022, and November 22, 2022, meetings, the City Council discussed a moratorium on the enforcement of goats, specific to the keeping of more than two (2) per household. The moratorium was a result of a Code Enforcement (Neighborhood Services) case regarding a resident who was housing more than the permitted number of goats on their property. The complainant was someone from outside of the local area and the Council was not aware of any complaints from neighbors.
The original ordinance in Chapter 6 has been in place since 2014 and the intent of the moratorium was to allow adequate time for clarification purposes in amending existing regulations. This moratorium would not impact the number of permitted pets which is codified in Chapter 6 as being no more than four (4).
In addition, regulations specific to the housing of goats (hereby known to be specific to dwarf or pygmy goats) in the Unified Development Code. Language addressing the location and size of structures has been drafted and will amend 'urban agriculture' permissions.
Colorado Jurisdiction Regulations
From a zoning perspective, regulations pertaining to the housing structure including size and distance separations will be captured in the UDC. Planning Staff researched regulations in Colorado jurisdictions to learn what was "best practice". Findings from the 21 jurisdictions that provided responses is available in ATTACHMENT 2.
As these regulations are specific to urban agriculture, a newly permitted use t...
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