Commission will weigh livestock zones

A revised set of rules for livestock owners in Columbia County will go before Planning Commissioners on Thursday night.

The rules - depending on which option the board chooses, - would limit livestock to lots larger than one acre to two acres. However, the new rules would not apply to people who currently own livestock - they would be grandfathered in.

Planners met for more than an hour Sunday, listening to Planning and Development Director Jeff Browning detail a proposed ordinance and an alternate.

Both proposals would:

Allow livestock in residential agricultural zones - which covers most of the area north of Euchee Creek - and the area around the lake;

Allow livestock to be kept in most other residential zones under two conditions: the lot size must be larger than the set threshold, and any building must be kept at least 25 feet from the property line.

The main distinction is the treatment of properties zoned R-1. One proposal would allow all R-1 property to house livestock; the other would limit livestock to R-1 property that measures two acres or more.

Officials said the changes are part of a two-pronged approach to monitoring the keeping of livestock. The other prong is the enforcement of nuisance laws by the local health department, which some planners say is not happening.

''We need to find a better way to enforce the nuisance law, because it is not happening,'' said planning Commissioner Dean Thompson.

If the planning commission approves the ordinance changes, they'll go before the full commission later this month.

Columbia County leaders began looking at changing the laws covering keeping livestock on residential property earlier this year, after residents of Northwood and Deerwood Acres subdivisions complained about a nearby horse farm.