DAILY HERALD (Provo, Utah) 18 July 07 Mapleton rebuffs snake farm (Jeremy Duda)
Dan Sutherland's snake farm won't be opening its doors in Mapleton -- at least if the city's final word on the issue stands.
At an appeal hearing on Tuesday, the City Council voted unanimously to uphold the decision of the city's Planning Commission, which denied Sutherland a conditional-use permit he needed to open a business that would sell ball pythons and boa constrictors. Sutherland has been operating his snake farm in Spanish Fork since November, but wants to move it to land he bought at 525 S. Main St. in Mapleton.
The crux of the issue was whether the snake farm would have a negative impact on neighboring property values. A report by an appraiser stated that the properties would not sell for less because of the snake farm, but would likely stay on the market for longer. The Planning Commission felt that was sufficient to deny the permit, voting 4-3 in May against the snake farm.
Sutherland appealed the decision, arguing that the negative impact on neighboring properties could be mitigated. The City Council disagreed.
"If I have a job transfer and move to California and my house is vacant for three months or it's vacant at 12 months, even at the same price I've had a substantial loss," said Councilwoman Ann Tolley, who made the motion to uphold the Planning Commission's decision.
Randy Spencer, Sutherland's attorney, said they plan to appeal the decision to the 4th District Court. They have 30 days to file an appeal.
"Clearly this is an issue that could be substantially mitigated, and they chose to ignore it," he said after the hearing.
Danny Raymer, a neighbor of Sutherland's property in Mapleton, said he was glad the council looked at the issue of marketability, not just property value. The snake farm would house about 1,500 snakes, along with the mice and rats they eat. Neighbors had argued that many people's inherent fear of snakes would make them less likely to buy homes near Sutherland's business.
Spencer said the farm would not hurt property values, and said neighbors would never actually have to see the farm's scaly wares.
"This is completely a self-contained operation with no view to the public which would be detrimental to the property," he said. "People wouldn't even know that the snakes were there."
Because Tuesday's hearing was an appeal, under state law council members were not permitted to look at new evidence or ask questions of the snake farm's proponents or opponents. They could only discuss the issue among themselves and rule on whether the Planning Commission erred. Legal council informed the council members that they could only overrule the Planning Commission if its previous decision was arbitrary, illegal or capricious.
No one on the council felt the Planning Commission made a mistake when it ruled that property value impacts -- the lone unresolved issue between Sutherland and his would-be neighbors -- could not be properly mitigated.
"I think they followed the law appropriately," said Councilman Mike Cobia. "I can't do anything but support their decision."
Spencer said he submitted seven or eight letters to the Planning Commission while it was reviewing the permit request that the City Council could have taken into consideration. In the letters, some of Sutherland's former neighbors in California, where he operated a snake farm, and neighbors of his current snake farm in Spanish Fork testify that they suffered no nuisances or negative effects on property values because of the exotic animal business.
"That was all part of the record that they had to review tonight," Spencer said.
Sutherland and Spencer were displeased with the council's decision, but many of Sutherland's neighbors walked out of City Hall happy. About 25 people attended the meeting for the snake farm issue, filing out after the council voted down the appeal.
"I feel the decision was right," said Richard Howell, who lives next door to Sutherland's property in Mapleton.
"I thought it was a proper decision," said Tom James Sr., another neighbor.
http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/229046/
DESERET MORNING NEWS (Salt Lake City, Utah) 18 July 07 City tells snake farm to slither away - Mapleton's decision follows months of outcry by public (Elizabeth Stuart)
Mapleton: after a year of venomous debate over a proposed snake farm, 15 minutes and five votes were all it took to bar 1,500 ball pythons from slithering into a Mapleton neighborhood.
Mapleton City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to support a Planning Commission decision to deny Dan Sutherland a conditional-use permit to move his ball python breeding business to Mapleton from Spanish Fork.
Although public opposition to the farm has been loud and clear, the council ruled the commission did not "bend in response to public clamor" by denying the permit.
When 1,500 writhing snakes move into a residential area, they ruled, there is no way to mitigate the fear-driven damage to neighbors' property values.
"I believe Mr. Sutherland can mitigate every problem brought forth by the Planning Commission, but the one breaker seems to be property value," said council member Brian Wall.
Sutherland and his snakes have spent the past several months in Spanish Fork because initial efforts to set up camp in Mapleton a year ago were met with strident opposition. Sutherland said he invested more than $650,000 to develop the farm's proposed site in Mapleton, though, and he was not about to watch it wriggle away.
Sutherland argued in the Planning Commission hearing that homes near the proposed snake farm, located at 525 S. Main Street, would still sell for full-market value. According to an independent audit report, the houses would just stay on the market longer, he said.
"I don't think we can separate the mental perception or fear of snakes from property value," council member Ann Tolley said. "Why someone wants to live in a particular home has a lot to do with their perception about the area."
The council did not take public comments on the matter. Instead, they made their decision based on 220 pages of transcripts from previous public meetings.
"Our task here, in my view, is to analyze whether the planning commission followed proper procedure," said council member Mike Cobia. "While I may not come to the same conclusion, I think they followed the right procedure."
In August of 2006 the Sutherlands moved their ball python breeding business to the city from California.
The city originally granted the Sutherlands a permit to build two barns, one to house the snakes and one to house the rodents they eat for dinner. But when residents got riled up about the reptiles moving in next door, city officials claimed they were under the impression the Sutherland's snake breeding activity was only a hobby and not a full-scale Internet business.
After nearly three months of hot-tempered public meetings about the issue, Sutherland withdrew his application and made arrangements to take his snakes to Spanish Fork until the issues were resolved.
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,695192945,00.html
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