Scenarios to kill a small farm

Scenarios on how this might kill a farm:

You find a piece of property out here to buy. Nice quiet. Put a few goats on it. The home has a barn, shed, milk room. and you're set,  all you need are the goats and chickens. You buy. Zoning comes out and tells you the barn, shed and milk room don't have "permits". They need to come down. WHY? The owners prior were bonafide. (Bonafide had different standards one of which they can't impose ordinances that will impede your right to farm).  The new owners are not. Now what?

Your property is transecting two streets. In the one place this ordinance  says you CAN put a shed or build a barn there is a large pond. Or a stand of trees. The kind you can't cut down. Like Cypress. but you have plenty of space on the front and side yards.  NOW WHAT?

Your property had horses on it. Since the proposed ordinance don't affect horses, you put up all the paddocks, pens, shade shelters, where you want.  Front / side/ next to the street. or neighbors yard. You hurt your back. No more riding. Sell the horses but still want to live your rural life and put a few pigs in those paddocks instead... Zoning comes cites your pigs as a nuisance to your neighbors. via cross fencing language- pigs are nuisance. Paddocks need to be moved. Shade shelters gone. And the pigs need to move to the back of the yard.  (there is no language in the books for horse and shade shelters or cross fencing etc.  As well no rules where you can put them. The only rules in the books for horses is STABLES. (large ticket 4 stall type barns something one would normally permit).

You have a rectangular piece of property. House sits in the far back. The well and the septic and the drainage field sit in the front. THe set back language says you can't put your permanent structures in the front. or side street yards. NOW WHAT?

You are living out here 20 years. You have cross fenced, sheltered, and cooped all your animals. Someone moves in next door. They don't like your pigs, goats, chickens. THey call animal control. With the cross fencing language they decide you are a nuisance to the neighbors. NOW WHAT?

You have 100 chickens on the property. Working 2 jobs and you sell the chicks or eggs (for hatching not eating )  to neighbors and friends to pay for the enjoyment only of your weekend hobby. Neighbors complain all the driving on your street. They monitor and find out your selling your eggs / chicks. They cite you for limitations of use after the 6th sale. chickens hatch out every 21 days. (ordinance in effect now is for HOME OCCUPATION) selling a few eggs or chicks is not this persons occupation. its their hobby. And is a livestock endeavor. Or you comply with the livestock sales limitation and you now have 100's more animals you don't want, need, but waiting to sell. More of a nuisance?

Animal care comes out and wants onto your property. You say no. This ordinance now gives them even more leeway to get on the property. At this moment they're intrusion is limited to monitoring laws for dogs and cats, vaccination, and abuse. They can take relinquished livestock or at large livestock only. They can't tell you how to maintain or care for your livestock. This ordinance now allows this. They have a different opinion on care of on how to raise them. Now what?

You do everything right. You  build where they say. Permit. Raise your animals. Want to get bigger. You need the front of your property now. You are trying to get bonafide so that you can use the front yards. Its necessary to your right to farm.  But you can't increase animals to sell to prove bonaifide...  You can't get bonafide from the property appraiser without proof. Round and round you go. You can't get bonafide with out it. You can't get bigger from the zoning ordinances.

You raise goats, pigs, chickens. You sell them. On the 7th sale you get cited. Now you have to unload animals where? auctions? 2 hours away. on side streets? not professional. This becomes just way to difficult, buy a trailer, get OCVI permits from the vet for travel, on every animal sold. to tag the animals for auction more money,  to constantly be driving to okeechobee. The fuel costs. OCVI. auction costs, tag costs. All cost more then the sales of the animals your selling. You are in the red. NOW WHAT?

Your cross fencing is up. You have 5 paddocks. all for the animals containment. Neighbors complain! now you take the the fencing down. You can have animals running loose on the property. everywhere. The saying Good fences make Good neighbors? The same is true with cross fencing and livestock. Makes for responsible Livestock owners.


Like I stated previously this ordinance is not about "livestock" so much as its about whitewashing  and keeping us in a cookie cutter ordinance where there is no one solution out here. It's about the non livestock owner that moved in that doesn't like it. It's for the zoning department to "unify" all homes. Its not in the best interest of anyone that moves out here to raise animals. And in the past this area was unregulated. right or wrong. but still reality. There are just to many people this ordinance will hurt. outside of just putting it in the books "livestock are allowed".  Which btw has been going on for over 30 years.

These are just a few "scenarios"... Check back i'm sure i'll think of a few more.

 (note moved this to bottom so the "scenarios" would be read first )

Some have it this is a good thing. These livestock ordinances. I disagree.  Firstly, if we aren't on the books then there are no rules regarding livestock, livestock structures specifically for them, where they are housed, fenced, cross fenced,  or any of the other nonsense in the proposed ordinance. Putting us on the books NOW allows zoning to cite us. For Livestock. and Livestock buildings. Etc. A shed has always been something you put up and might need  a permit for. Putting up a small goat shelter you did not. zoning disagrees. But yet when you call them and ask about putting up a small goat shelter they have no response for you.

Secondy, this ordinance isn't about "livestock" as they claim, because if it was then it simply would be an addition "livestock is allowed".  And a chicken is not a parrot.

Its about structures, and codes to bring everyone out here into compliance. Like it would be in a city neighborhood with zero lot lines. Where the cookie cutter mentality abounds. Rules for homes that are almost exactly alike are easy to zone. Homes out here are not. Every lot. Every home. Every layout on the land is different. Some are large. Small. At the front of property. or way in the back. Some homes sit diagonal to the street. There are no two homes / land alike out here. Add to this the wells, septic, drainage, pond, pool. There is no one size fits all. And this is the problem.

And this is only one part of the new language. Accessory Structures. Add to this the language: Cross Fencing. Animal Care. Limitation of use. Existing uses. All are damaging to the small homesteader. Breeder. hobby farmer. or trying to get bonafide.