AMHERST — A cease-and-desist order issued to a South Amherst resident who keeps rabbits, chickens and goats on her property is being upheld by the Zoning Board of Appeals.
The board voted 3-0 on April 12 that Michelle Chandler of 326 West Pomeroy Lane will need to obtain a permit and register her livestock operation as an accessory residential use in order to continue having 15 rabbits and 50 hens that she uses to feed her family, as well as a herd of goats, on the 1.14-acre parcel.
If she doesn’t get the permit, Chandler will have to remove all of her animals.
The issue stems from complaints in January and February that noxious odors were emanating from her farm and entering a neighbor’s property, confirmed by a health inspector as coming from animal waste.
Building Commissioner Rob Morra said the decision means that while farm animals are an allowed use on a property in the residential outlying zoning district, Chandler will need a permit, though it’s uncertain if she can get one.
“The Zoning Board of Appeals said she has to go through the registration process that is in the general bylaws,” Morra said.
Chandler and her attorney argued that as a farm for a decade, she is exempt from the registration process. The board rejected that view.
Morra said town officials’ obligation is to the abutters, John and Susan Fortin of 316 West Pomeroy Lane, who have filed the complaints, and that officials must make sure Chandler is following the law and running a farm with minimal impact.
“The Board of Health will now discuss conditions that need to occur and how to improve the conditions,” Morra said.
“Our family is very happy the ZBA voted to support and uphold the decision by the building commissioner,” Susan Fortin said. “The situation has been intolerable for years and we’re hopeful this will change for the better.”
The town’s general and zoning bylaws both are explicit that keeping livestock for consumption on the property where Chandler lives is allowed by right.
But the general bylaw also notes that “odors from domesticated fowl and rabbits, their waste, compost, or other related substances shall not be perceptible at the property boundaries. It shall be a violation of these regulations for the owner, custodian, or keeper of any animal governed under these regulations to allow the animal(s) to be a nuisance to any neighbors, including but not limited to: noxious odors from the animals or their enclosure; and noise of a loud and persistent and habitual nature.”
For Chandler, the decision likely means she will have to go to court to get a remedy to continue keeping the animals that she uses to feed her family. She also shares products, such as eggs, with members of the community.
“I will have to pursue this in Superior Court at significant personal expense in order to have a hearing of the law as it’s actually written, not as the ZBA decided to interpret it,” Chandler said.
Her concern is that she’s already been told by the Health Department and the Board of Health that she may not be able to get a permit now because she hasn’t had one in the past.
“(It) seems like I’m either going to have to fight in court, or all the animals have to go,” Chandler said.
The health board in March gave Chandler 60 days to find out whether the operation was legal, and ordered that rabbits by April 1 be moved from her property to one across the street, where she kept them last year for several months. While this reduced the odor, there was a danger in crossing the road to water and feed the animals.
Chandler said she is frustrated, angry and disappointed by the outcome of the ZBA.
“It was really disheartening last night to realize that their minds were made up before we arrived, and that our legal arguments were simply dismissed,” Chandler said.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.