Commission Considers Public Reaction To Proposed Rule Exemptions Affecting Horse Farms

By Andrew Gorosko

Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members are considering a range of public opinion on a P&Z proposal to provide a limited exemption to certain commercial horse farms from the “special exception” provisions of the town’s zoning regulations.

Currently three local horse farms have special exceptions to the zoning regulations to conduct their businesses.

The special exception review process provides P&Z with an extra measure of control over the operation of businesses that are subject to the special exception requirements of the zoning regulations.

It is unclear how many horse farms would be affected by a zoning rule change.

About 40 people attended a May 17 P&Z public hearing on the proposed zoning rule change concerning commercial horse operations.

Elizabeth Stocker, the town’s community development director, explained that although town zoning regulations first went into effect in 1958, “horse raising” was not added to the regulations as a land use until 1965. As of 1972, “horse boarding” became a permitted land use, provided that people who boarded horses on their property obtained a special exception to the zoning regulations to do so.

As suburbanization increased, residential land uses moved into what had been agricultural areas. The two different types of uses were not always compatible, she noted, pointing out that agricultural uses are industrial in nature.

“Newtown is continuing to develop as a suburban community and farming is essentially being pushed out,” Ms Stocker said, adding that Newtown is not the only place where this is occurring.

Ms Stocker noted the town has 134 property tax accounts in which the property owners receive tax breaks because they maintain their land as “farmland,” in the form of hayfields, forests, livestock raising, and dairying, among other uses. Based on the 137 local property tax accounts for the keeping of horses, there are 213 horses registered with the tax assessor’s office, she said.

“I  have heard that there’s many more, so there are some not registered,” she said.

P&Z’s proposed zoning regulation change might apply to between five and eight horse farms, Ms Stocker said, adding, however, it is unclear how many farms actually would be affected.

The proposed zoning regulation would not exempt horse farms from needing special exceptions to the zoning regulations for expanding their facilities in the future.

P&Z Chairman Daniel Fogliano said that in the past, farm owners had gotten “casual approvals” for commercial horse farming from land use officials.

Mr Fogliano said obtaining a special exception from P&Z is an expensive process, noting there are technical requirements of such an application. 

P&Z member Lilla Dean said of the proposed zoning amendment, “This is a ‘grandfather clause’ for people in this [horse] business.” In the past, residents apparently were not as concerned as they are today about the presence of horses near their homes, so town enforcement of equine land uses was not as strict as it is today, she said.

During the past several years, some residents living near commercial horse farms have complained that their proximity to stables poses quality of life, property value, environmental and health issues.

P&Z member Stephen Koch asked why the commission is specifically addressing only commercial horse keeping in the proposed zoning amendment, and not also land uses such as plant nurseries, truck farming, and greenhouses.

Mr Koch said he fears that revising the equine rules would get P&Z into regulatory problems, with attorneys for applicants seeking to expand the revised rules’ meaning well beyond the scope of P&Z’s intent. The matter needs more study, Mr Koch said.

Public Comment

Laura Lerman of Main Street told P&Z members that horses do not attend public schools, in apparently pointing out that horses do not require the public spending for education that is required by children who live in residential developments. The town should encourage equine activities, she said.

Gary Tannenbaum of Pond Brook Rd questioned the particular wording of the proposed zoning amendment. Mr Tannenbaum asked whether certain local horse farms would receive preferential treatment from the town due to a regulatory cutoff date of December 28, 1986.

Robert Wade, the owner of Meadowbrook Farms Boarding and Trail Ride Stable on Meadowbrook Road, objected to the wording of the proposed zoning amendment. Small horse barns, which are intended for private use, commercially board horses, he said, adding that the town is not enforcing applicable rules in such cases. Mr Wade said the proposed rule change affects many local properties, adding that P&Z should get a definite idea of how many properties are affected by it.

Robert Feuerberg of Huntingtown Road told P&Z members he lives next to a horse farm. He urged P&Z members to continue the public hearing to a future meeting to allow his lawyer to review how the proposed regulation would affect him. Mr Feuerberg urged P&Z members to keep in place the special exception requirements as they pertain to underground water supplies.

Mr Feuerberg presented P&Z members with a letter from his neighbor, James Morris, in which Mr Morris states the proposed amendment would remove P&Z’s special exception review process from certain horse farm proposals, thus eliminating a level of public protection.

Joe Grasso of Huntingtown Road said the quality-of-life problems posed by horse farms do not stem directly from the presence of horses, but from the various commercial activities likely to be found at horse farms such as the use of composting equipment, trucking, and flying dust.

Jane Nickerson of Bridle Path Trail told P&Z members that the wording of the proposed zoning amendment is not clear.

“The language is confusing … To the public it’s confusing,” she said.

The proposed zoning amendment reads: “If prior to December 28, 1986, the caring for, boarding and keeping of horses for trade or sale and the training of boarded horses and owners of said horses occurred upon a property, then such use of property may be continued provided that such operations or buildings shall not be expanded or intensified above the level at which such activity existed on that date.”

Ms Nickerson said the wording of the proposal creates a “catch-22” situation for horse farms.

Although some horse farms may not have gotten special exceptions from P&Z during the past 15 years when those farms made improvements to their facilities, those farms received town building permits and certificates of occupancy for the improvements which they made, she said.

Ms Nickerson urged P&Z to create a set of zoning regulations pertaining specifically to horses containing requirements on manure management, the number of horses which can be kept, and the number of buildings allowed for equine use, among other requirements.

David McCauley of Rock Ridge Road urged that P&Z change the effective date in its proposed zoning amendment from December 28, 1986, to June 1, 2001.

P&Z members are scheduled to resume the public hearing on the proposed zoning amendment on June 21.