November 27, 2012

Back Again ~ City Hall Chapter II



It was a lovely day, that was until City Hall made a return call to our tranquil little farm. A year had gone by since they had last visited us. 

That was an annoyingly memorable time. City Hall had caused a sizable commotion about our keeping wild, exotic animals on our little farm. If you missed that drama scene, please give City Hall a click.

Before launching into their next escapade, I'd like to say that we really do live in a peaceful area. If I were to write an advertisement it would be something like this:  a picturesque equestrian community with over twenty-two miles of horse trails surrounded by beautiful trees and farms.

Katie checks horse trail


Just the word "farm" is unusual for this part of Southern California. This is the land of housing developments, California glitz mini-mansions and the ever present freeways, which equals traffic.

However, we are all lucky our unique horse-y community even exists. It was designed for equestrians nearly fifty years ago when cows and sheep were wandering the fields and tucked away in the distance were horse farms.  That was us ... then.

However, times have a-changed.  

City Hall had recently hired this young lady, given her a badge and put her in charge of "those farms" She threw herself into the job and set about to find out just what we do on a farm and what about all those animals!

Now, I knew who had caused all our problems with City Hall the year before and why they didn't know anything about animals. 

And here "she" was, again.  This time I was expecting her. The word had traveled far and wide as many farm friends locked their gates and posted signs to keep her at bay.

As for our not green acres, we were in the middle of house demolition on the property we had recently bought. We didn't have gates to lock.  We didn't have a doorbell and the front door was a piece of plywood. Now that was to be a problem. 

We were in the middle of our destruction work when I heard a knock on the "wall" and saw this young official walking through the house. She had a clip board in hand.

Her purpose was to go from farm to farm taking inventory of the animals, what kind they were, how many we had and why. She also needed a tour of all facilities.

We didn't even have facilities, yet, except for the horse barn which, of course, was repaired/restored/rebuilt before our house.  It's a matter of priority ... horses first.

From the top of my ladder, I told little Missy to please leave and make an appointment sometime next year. 

After her third try for a tour of our farm and to count our animals, I requested that she give me her official list of rules and inventory sheet. I would have it ready for her to pick up... later. Surprisingly she obliged. (I think she remembered our meeting the year before.)

Now, with the mysterious list of rules in hand, we called a "meeting of the farms". We learned that we would be allowed to have up to 3 horses, 6 chickens and 2 unclassified. If a farm had 2 goats, that counted as 1 horse. In that case, you only were allowed 2 horses. Tell that to my friends who had two goats and loved their 4 horses for over a decade and had ridden the trails as a family.

City Hall found out ... you don't want to upset horse owners. Adjustments were made and residents were allowed to "grandfather in" all their current animals for life. Upon the demise of said horses, the owners would be subject to the limitation rules.

Now, get this: we were all allowed to fill in the inventory list of our animals and mail it to city hall. A farm inspection remained a possibility.

Since we were not required to take photographs of our animals, it was obvious that all "grandfathered" horses would now live to be 65 years old. With the loss of a horse, a new one could arrive on the weekends when offices were closed.

Also, thinking ahead, more animals were listed than actually lived on our farms. One never knew what creatures we might like to have in the future, so they were added to the current animal list, just in case.

We are an honest bunch around here, no really we are. But if my friend wants another pony she should have it.  And if I want 2 Canada geese and 8 chickens I should have them.  We are reasonable and responsible. We don't want to feed more than ... we can feed.

We were all a team and it worked. The City finally gave up on controlling and inspecting our farms, our animals ... and us. The girl and her clipboard are gone and the animal inventory list has ceased to exist. 

As Harry Truman said: If you can't convince them, confuse them.

We are all  back to living happily with our animals, enjoying our farms and the peaceful life.

With a little effort ... life really can be great! Of course, I'm trusting City Hall won't be calling, again, soon.



20 comments:

  1. Doesn't it seem that someone always wants to change the rules? Seems to me the farms were there first and should be left alone to coexist peacefully. The way they did for years before Missy's with clipboards were given a job to feel important. Glad you and the other farm owners were able to "confuse" them.

    You trail looks beautiful and of course Katy is adorable as usual.

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  2. GHM,
    You are exactly right about changing rules and people with clipboards. We did have to fight them. Now that there is little land left, the city is bragging about having a horse community, which seems to make us "special". But we already knew that. It helps that a few new city council members live here.

    Ahhh, thanks ... I'll pass the word to Katie.

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  3. Hmmm. That must have been an era when the governments had more money than they knew what to do with. If there isn't a problem, why fix it? No one wants to be regulated. I laughed at how your neighborhood handled it. One of the reasons why my husband and I have been trying to block off the public from passing through our back yard is because we know that one of these days someone is going to report us for something, whether it be a manure pile that's too big or a horse that they think looks neglected or an illegal setup of something or rather. It's better to just limit traffic through your property to those you know and trust.

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    1. Completely agree with you about confining access to your property to those you know. As for the public, what is temporary they think becomes their right.

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  4. I don't understand how people can move to a community because of it's wonderfulness, and then decide they don't want to live with all the parts that create that very wonderfulness. So there they go trying to change ordinances and initiate new rules and regulations. (Who needs 'em! as the song goes.)

    Good for you!

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    1. You are so right. Glad we fought and won the battle. Now, the City loves us and works hard to keep us happy. (or out of their hair)

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  5. Well, my comment appears to be lost in cyberspace.

    Suffice to say -- good for you!

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  6. Too funny! Glad you outwitted them! Sounds like an amazing place to live.

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    1. Animal people sure stick together. It is a nice place to live, feels like country in the middle of of everything.

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  7. Hmm, maybe you shouldn't have blogged this. You never know who is watching!

    x

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    1. we're safe now that City Council people have moved here. They are now trying to protect what we have, thank goodness.

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  8. Ugh. What a bunch of jerks. Make a rule first, ask questions later. Too bad you had to waste time and energy dealing with their nonsense, but you all are still standing and they are gone. Carry on!

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    1. Waste time is right. Glad we fought and won. As you said ... we're still standing and Missy is gone.

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  9. Local government bureaucracy always irks me. Especially in cases like yours. Thankfully, you had strength in numbers. We are restricted by county laws (we're in an unincorporated semi-rural area). That means no backyard chickens for us. Unless the law changes... which it probably won't anytime soon.

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    1. Interesting that a semi-rural area would ban chickens. They are quieter than dogs (excluding roosters), cleaner than dogs and contribute to nature. I suppose dogs are just a given, and chickens are to stay on the "farm".

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  10. I definitely think the government agents should be focused on well-being of horses, not quantity. Who cares if you have ten horses on your property if they are cared for an healthy! Someone may have one horse that hasn't been fed or cared for in months but that would be more 'ok' by them because they have the required number of animals!

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  11. Hi Marvel,

    Thanks so much for your concern for Star. She had been doing very well, but Monday night had an accident. It appears that she might have broken a bone below the hock in the same leg that is cancerous. We are tending to her, but she's in definite pain. We are in touch daily with our vet. I'll be posting an update over the weekend.

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    1. Thanks for the update. She has been on my mind. So, so sorry.

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  12. What a fiasco. I'm so glad your community stuck to their guns and all the animals can remain where they are. Sounds like a little bit of heaven to me.

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  13. LOL...give some people a clipboard and they go crazy with their authority! What a wonderful community you have there!

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