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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda 08-14-2001 - 9b i ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: August 14, 2001 Action Agend Item No. _ SUBJECT: Proposed Amendment to An Ordinance Prohibiting the Keeping of Wild Animals Dangerous to Persons and Property Within Unincorporated Areas of Orange County DEPARTMENT: Health PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: Draft Amended Ordinance Rosemary Summers, ext 2411 TELEPHONE NUMBERS: Hillsborough 732-8181 Chapel Hill 968-4501 Durham 688-7331 Mebane 336-227-2031 PURPOSE: To consider adopting the proposed amendments to the ordinance prohibiting the keeping of wild animals dangerous to persons and property within the unincorporated areas of Orange County. BACKGROUND: This ordinance was first passed in 1983 and has not been reviewed since that passage. The Board of Health's Animal Control and Environmental Health Committee found the language in the ordinance pertaining to permitting the keeping of such animals during the ordinance's phase-in period and the accompanying language on structures and enclosures that accompanied the permits to be confusing. That language had been included in the ordinance in order to allow those residents who already owned such animals to continue to keep the animals until they died or the residents moved from the county. No permits are currently on file or valid under the provisions of the 1983 ordinance. This amended ordinance is unchanged from the 1983 ordinance in that it continues the prohibition against owning wild animals dangerous to persons and property. It does not prohibit the ownership of exotic animals. The ordinance only applies to the unincorporated areas of Orange County. It would not apply within the municipalities of the County unless the respective jurisdictions themselves also adopted the ordinance. The county attorney's office drafted the amended ordinance as attached. The Board of Health took official action at its January 25, 2001 meeting to recommend the attached revised ordinance. The amended ordinance strikes all language pertaining to permitting and physical enclosures. This clarifies that the keeping of wild animals dangerous to persons and property within Orange County is not allowed. The only exemption allowed is for 2 animals used for teaching and/or research purposes at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. During the public hearing on May 29, 2001, a question was raised regarding ownership and t.se of alligators under the provisions of this ordinance. Upon further examination of the ordinance itself, alligators would not be covered under the terms of this ordinance since, although they are reptiles, they are neither poisonous nor crushing and giant. Currently, new farms or the use of alligators on farms is regulated by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture. The local office is the Farm Service Agency located on Revere Road. There currently is no local regulatory structure in place to approve or disapprove the use of alligators or any other animal as a farm "crop." FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no apparent financial impact, unless fines are levied. There is always a cost associated with use of personnel to perform investigations and manage the legal process; however, that is only in case of potential violations. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Board of Health recommends that the language in the proposed attached Ordinance Prohibiting the Keeping of Wild Animals Dangerous to Persons and Property Within Orange County be approved as the amended ordinance, effective upon passage.