Reptile & Amphibian Forums

KUTV (Salt Lake City, Utah) 24 August 06 Snakes In The Suburbs? Neighbors Fear Python Farm
Mapleton: A public meeting was cut short when tempers rose over Dan and Colette Sutherland's plan to move their online ball python breeding business to Mapleton.
Dan Sutherland held an informational meeting at the City Building on Wednesday but was unable to finish his presentation as tempers flared on both sides.
"If you're going to bring snakes here, it's going to be over my dead body," one woman shouted as she stormed out of the meeting.
The issue remains unresolved as the city attorney has said Sutherland will need a conditional-use permit.
The planning commission will consider the permit application at its Sept. 21 meeting.
Residents objected to a commercial enterprise in their neighborhood, but mostly they expressed fear of the snakes - and for their own property values.
"I don't think any of us care about the UPS truck," resident Gwen Warren said. "I'm concerned about the snakes getting out."
Warren said that would be the worst scenario, but the most likely scenario is a decrease in property value.
Dan Sutherland said the couple has never had a snake escape in 16 years of business.
Edward Christensen, who built the Sutherlands' current facility near Palmdale, Calif., and now lives in nearby Elk Ridge, said he dislikes snakes as much as anyone, but vouched for the Sutherlands' operation and their new facility.
"I saw their facility, how meticulous they are," he said. "They're very professional...and I have no fears putting my kids in their house because (the snakes) don't get out."
Some residents and city employees have accused the Sutherlands of being dishonest in the process of applying for permits, which Dan Sutherland denied.
"Our hard part was reading in the paper that we were dishonest and that we were underhanded in this, because we weren't," he said.
After the meeting's abrupt end, city officials invited everyone to move into the City Council meeting and discuss the issue with Mayor James Brady, who said the Sutherlands did all they were asked to do.
"From my knowledge and from the documents I've seen, the Sutherlands have complied with what was requested of them in applying for a building permit and a home occupancy license," Brady said.
The Sutherlands say they have spent $600,000 to relocate to Mapleton. Dan Sutherland has a business license for his commercial snake farm and has built two barns - one for ball pythons and one for the rodents to feed them - on their three-acre site.
The Sutherlands sell the snakes online and ship them to their destinations,
While the matter remains in limbo, Colette Sutherland will stay in California to run the business, and Dan Sutherland will stay in the family's new home with their four children, who began attending school In Mapleton this week.
"We made this move as a family, but now our family is split up," he said.
Neighbors Fear Python Farm

Italic emphasis mine, Wes

DAILY HERALD (Provo, Utah) 24 August 06 Mapleton to determine fate of snake business (Natalie Evans)
After investing $600,000 in property in Mapleton and applying for what they thought were the needed licenses, the fate of the Sutherland family's snake breeding business is in the hands of city's Planning Commission.
The Mapleton city attorney told the City Council on Wednesday that the family must get a condition use permit before their hundreds of snakes can slither into their new barn on nearly 3 acres in the city. The ball pythons still are in California, where the Sutherlands lived before recently moving to Mapleton. The hearing on the permit is set for Sept. 21.
The council asked the city attorney to review the situation after it was brought to the council's attention Aug. 16.
Dan Sutherland has a business license for his commercial snake farm and has built two barns -- one for ball pythons and one for the rodents to feed them. Sutherland held a meeting Wednesday evening so residents could ask questions about the business. He sells the snakes online and mails them to their destinations via a shipping business.
The Sutherlands' neighbors are upset because they said they didn't know about the snakes until they thought it almost seemed too late.
"Why they couldn't come out and tell me months ago when the building first started is beyond me," Richard Howell said. He would be next door to the snake farm.
Sutherland said there was no need to inform his neighbors, and that the snakes won't be a problem.
"If we weren't here today, you would never even know what I'm doing here," he said, referring to smell and escaping snakes. Residents said they aren't convinced that the snakes can't escape -- and they don't want to come face to face with a python.
"Say it's a horror movie and the snakes get out. That's the worse scenario," resident Gwen Warren said. She said the most likely scenario is a decrease in property value. Surrounding property is worth more than $300,000.
Mayor Jim Brady said a conditional use permit for Mapleton's agricultural zone allows residents to raise snakes as pets. It also states that residents can breed animals.
"You can breed your rabbits, chickens and goats, and you can also breed reptiles," he said.
He said the pythons could be classified as exotic pets, not reptiles. In that case, the city's law states that there can only be one exotic pet per half acre of property, so the Sutherlands' 2.7 acres could house five snakes.
But the Sutherlands plan on having more than five snakes. Last week, Colette Sutherland said they had 30 clutches of eggs hatch on their farm last year. Each clutch hatches six or seven snakes, so that's about 200 hundred snakes.
The Sutherlands' former neighbors in California were at the meeting to show support for them. Edward Christensen, of Elk Ridge, has been in the Sutherlands' snake facilities.
At first, he said he felt the same way as the residents when he heard about the farm.
"I know when you hear about snakes in a building, you kind of get these visions of 'Oh crap, there's snakes crawling around all over the place.' "
However, entering the barns changed his mind.
"When you see the type of operation that they have, your fears just go away," he said, noting that he has no problem bringing his children into the snake barn. Mapleton resident and zoologist Hal Black said that there is no need to worry about the snakes as a danger.
"The idea that there's some potential danger here to me is sort of funny," he said, noting that ball pythons are scared of people.
Mapleton to determine fate of snake business

DAILY HERALD (Provo, Utah) 18 September 06 Fate of snakes and dairy cows in Mapleton's hands (Natalie Evans)
Mapleton's Planning Commission on Thursday holds the fate of two established businesses in its hands.
Paul Opfar opened his dairy farm Aug. 5. He said that he talked to city planner Matt Evans about what he'd need to build it and run a business.
Dan Sutherland was scheduled to move his snake farm from California to Mapleton in September. He worked with Evans as well, to make sure that he met all the requirements.
In both cases, they got building permits and permits to have a business in their home -- not a business license.
As the buildings were built and Opfar's cows moved in, neighbors were curious -- and then upset. The city has decided that both farms need additional permits and the Planning Commission will decide whether it's possible for them to establish in the city.
Evans resigned Aug. 31.
"The truth is that he submitted a resignation to our city administrator and we accepted his resignation and we're just moving forward," Mapleton Mayor Jim Brady said.
The city has hired an interim planner, Orem City Councilwoman Karen McCandless, while they look for a planner.
"We have other staff members who are well informed on those issues and they will continue to work as they have in the past," Brady said, noting that he has a lot of sympathy for those who come in with an honest intent to start a business right.
"The law still applies to them, and that's one of the difficulties in looking at either of these situations," he said.
As they build their barns -- one for the snakes and one for the rodents and supplies, the Sutherlands have insisted that their new neighbors have nothing to worry about, and former neighbor Edward Christensen spoke up on their behalf at a public meeting.
At the same meeting, a neighbor living next door said the snakes will only come in "over my dead body."
Dan and Colette Sutherland breed ball pythons, so named because when they get scared they curl up in a ball. The couple breeds a few hundred snakes each year and are known around the country as being experts in herpetology.
Provo couple Amy and Dusty Rhoads learned of the Sutherlands' business in 2003.
"That got Dusty's wheels spinning, and he came home and said 'I need to buy a lot of snakes and start a business,' " Amy Rhoads said.
Dusty Rhoads is experimenting with breeding them as a hobby. They have about 20 snakes, with a few eggs.
"I hope to one day make it a good, solid business," Dusty said. "I might end up like the Sutherlands, I don't know."
The problems in Mapleton have alerted the Rhoads about permits. They say they checked and are OK as hobbyists. They will start the process of becoming an LLC next year.
As for the Rhoads's landlord and their neighbors? There hasn't been a problem.
"We've been over there a lot of times. We've held the snakes and they're harmless," neighbor Trent Jessee said. Jessee's 1-year-old has watched the snakes in their aquarium, and he trusts the Rhoads to baby-sit her.
As for the dairy cows now residing in Mapleton, it's a childhood dream come true for Opfar that might end early.
"I open up and a couple days later I get this letter from the city saying that I failed to comply with a conditional-use permit," Opfar said. He said he thought he was OK because he was on agricultural land.
He used to have 60 beef cows on the property, which he rents. Now, he has the milking barn and 55 dairy cows. Opfar grew up on a dairy farm and always wanted one of his own where he could teach his kids his love for work.
"It's relaxing," he said. "I get out there about 3:30 in the morning, start milking. My wife comes up at about six."
Opfar said that his 5-year-old daughter helps him milk the cows. He called his experience with the city and his neighbors "interesting."
The commission is set to make a decision about both businesses at its meeting Thursday, which starts at 7 p.m. The mayor will also be holding an information meeting regarding the snakes at 6:30 p.m.
Dan Sutherland, still in California taking care of the snakes, said that he's hoping for the Planning Commission's approval and friends in the city.
"It's rough without our kids," he said.
Fate of snakes and dairy cows in Mapleton's hands