No Urban Livestock Code for Clark County, WA

We, the concerned citizens of Clark County, Washington and our supporters in the surrounding communities of SW Washington and NW Oregon, are submitting this petition to the Board of County Commissioners to express our views on the newly proposed Urban Livestock Code 40.260.235.

We understand the need for County officials to possess the necessary tools by which they can exercise enforcement of the nuisance code as it may pertain to extreme instances of excessive noise, odor, or issues pertaining to health and well-being of our citizens and environment. However, we feel the addition to the County code of a system of livestock management plans, permits, and fees are irrelevant to the issue(s) that initiated the perceived need for an Urban Livestock Code and serve no interest other than to provide the County with another form of taxation and oppression which discriminates against citizens who wish to responsibly raise livestock for food, income, or personal enjoyment.

The new code, as it is currently written, is nothing more than an officially sanctioned avenue of attack on our rural community for anyone who want to enjoy a "rural life", but does not want to accommodate the sights, sounds, and smells that come with living in an agricultural environment. It will allow individuals to file unreasonable and unwarranted complaints who merely have the personal opinion that animal husbandry is inappropriate to undertake anywhere near their place of residence under any circumstances. And it will impose new and unnecessary "taxation" on anyone who wants to expand an existing or establish a new animal husbandry effort.

We charge you to protect the rights and lifestyle of our agricultural community as well as the rights of any citizen who wishes to responsibly undertake the noble and valuable practice of animal husbandry.

Amend the current County nuisance code to provide enforceable action against those who blatantly and disrespectfully disrupt the lives of their neighbors.

Do not impose further bureaucracy and social pressure on those who wish to provide their families and our community with food that is good, clean, and local.

Do not impose further financial distress on the members of our community in the form of irrelevant fees and permits.

We call on you, in the name of your duty to preserve and protect the agricultural heritage and rural community of Clark County, Washington, to refuse adoption of the Urban Livestock Code and to pursue an amendment of the nuisance code that can and will effectively deal with the specific issues mentioned above, rather than impose upon us a code that will further discourage and disrupt the agricultural pursuits of our entire community.