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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, September 24, 2012 7:00 o'clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 5 of 12 (3. #10-3491 CITY OF ORONO - HARDCOVER REGULATIONS AMENDMENT, Continued) Gaffron indicated they would be, but noted that those type of structures are typically not allowed to be constructed in the 0-75 foot zone. Bremer noted those items were always included in the calculations. Mayor McMillan opened the meeting up for public comment. Dennis Walsh, 1354 Rest Point Circle, noted that there are flat lots and steep lots along the lakeshore and that lots that require a stairway and/or a landing would then be penalized if they are not excluded. Mayor McMillan closed the public comment portion of the meeting. Printup moved, Franchot seconded, to adopt ORDINANCE NO. 94, Third Series, an Ordinance Amending Regulations Governing the Regulation of Hardcover and Establishing the Stormwater Quality Overlay District, and adoption of the Summary Ordinance for publication in the local newspaper. VOTE: Ayes 4, Nays 0. Mayor McMillan thanked the Hardcover Task Force and Staff for their work on drafting the ordinance. 4. ROOSTERS - POTENTIAL ANIMAL ORDINANCE AMENDMENT Gaffron stated in response to a small number of ongoing complaints from one or two residents about incessant crowing of roosters located at a property on Watertown Road, the City Council directed that Staff and the Planning Commission review the issue of whether the keeping of roosters should be prohibited within the City. This resulted in a discussion at the August 1 Planning Commission work session, at which one of the residents affected by the roosters related their concerns and requested that roosters be banned and chickens be further regulated. Subsequently, a public hearing on this issue was held at the August 20th Planning Commission meeting. Owners of roosters in the City were not identified nor individually notified. No members of the public were present to testify at the hearing. The level of public input thus far has been minimal and essentially one-sided. The Planning Commission voted 7-0 to recommend that regulation of roosters be considered an animal control issue and not a zoning issue. Further, the Planning Commission encouraged the City Council to take no further action on the ordinance amendment. Staff has prepared an amendment of Municipal Code Chapter 62 consisting of a single sentence to be added to Section 62-9: "No person shall own, harbor, keep or have custody of a rooster on his property." Staff is not proposing any provision for licensing roosters at this time. It is Staff's opinion that if the Municipal Code is amended to ban roosters, this would be the most appropriate method and code section in which to accomplish banning roosters. Establishing a rooster ban in the Animals chapter will avoid grandfathering of existing roosters. Placing the restriction within the Zoning Code would allow for grandfathering and open up a variety of issues regarding how to deal with existing roosters. The recent complaint about roosters crowing incessantly is currently being addressed by the City via prosecution of the property owner for a noise ordinance violation. If that litigation is successful, it is possible that the owner will get rid of the roosters voluntarily to avoid future action. If the litigation does not result in solving the problem and the Council determines there is a need to amend the code, the extent Item #03 - CC Agenda - 10/08/2012 Approval of Council Minutes 09/24/2012 [Page 5 of 12]