{This is a follow-up to an item posted 16 Sep}



DAILY HERALD (Provo, Utah) 22 September 04 Home-based snake business approved in Lindon (Tammy McPherson)

Though members of the Lindon City Council said Tuesday night they have a phobia of snakes, that didn't stop them from approving a home-based business so a future resident can breed exotic snakes and sell them over the Internet.

Jeremy Stone has been living in Orem for four years and, as a herpetoculturist, has been breeding rare boa constrictors and ball pythons a few blocks away from where he wants to build his dream home in Lindon. He produces up to 300 babies each year -- some of which he sells for more than $8,000 -- and he keeps about 150 breeders.

"It is my hobby, and I've been fortunate enough to turn it into a business," Stone said.

The city put his plans to build his home and a building to house his snakes on hold because of neighborhood opposition. With the business plans approved, Stone will still need to have the council approve his building plans and the city to issue a building permit so he can begin construction.

As a condition of approval, the city leaders said that if Stone ever considers raising rats to feed his snakes, he needs to come back to the city for approval. They also asked that he not operate the business in the new building until he has moved into his home.

"It's the impact of others that we have to be careful of," Mayor Larry Ellertson said.

For a full hour before the meeting, about 15 neighbors expressed their concerns to the council about a python ranch moving in next door.

One woman said she didn't want them getting into her yard. Though the snakes are not venomous, she said they could squeeze a person and she has had family members die from snakes.

To let the snakes out, though, would be a loss in revenue, Stone said.

He has purchased a $12,000 motion-sensored security system that will call his cellular phone if anyone tries to get into the snake building. And all of the cages have locks on them, he said.

"There's no way they can get out," Stone said.

His veterinarian, Dr. Yoeny Dobson, the owner of the Riverwoods Pet Hospital in Provo, said the type of snakes Stone raises could not live outside in Utah for more than two months. This is why the cages are temperature-controlled, she said.

And though the council and neighbors did have concerns about regulations for the snakes, Dobson explained that because he was selling them primarily to those outside of the state or country, he had to get a permit before shipping them. That permit came only after the snakes got a physical examination from herself or another veterinarian, she said.
Home-based snake business approved in Lindon

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