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  Discussion on Board of Health Setbacks
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Posted on Monday, Apr 15, 2002 - 10:25 pm:

I'd love the counsel of fellow HA horse owners on an issue in our town.

We live in E. Massachusetts in a town that has historically considered itself a rural community, and our town is drafting regulations (for the first time) on the keeping of livestock. Driving this new set of regulations are: 2 sets of feuding neighbors, and the perception that our state laws (written in 1890 for liveries) require the licensing of all stables (including backyard barns) once a town grows past 5,000 in population. (btw, the law has never been tested, as to scope.) So, we are entering a new phase of licensing, and to be licensed, a barn must meet the new regulations the Board of Health comes up with.

Our issues are typical of small rural-type towns under suburban pressure, and I've read the very good article on HA by Julie Fershtman, "Protect Your Rights to Keep Horses in Your Community". We will take her recommendations to heart.

I'd love to hear from anyone re what worked in their community. Our Board of Health is contemplating fairly extreme setbacks, for example a 100' setback from the pasture fence to a private well (we have no public water/sewer in our town) and a 40' setback from the front lot line (along the road) to a pasture. For the most part, our pasture fences have run right along the roads for more than 100 years, and have run closer than 100' from our wells for decades. Given there hasn't been even ONE instance in Eastern Massachusetts of a private well contaminated by horses or other livestock (according to the Massachusetts DEP!), we horse owners think these changes are unnecessary and onerous. We'd like some help making our case. Some of us would find it difficult to maintain our horses on the reduced pastures these setbacks would imply.

Thanks for any guidance!
Melissa

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 17, 2002 - 2:11 am:

Melissa:

There was an attempt in Phoenix to tightly regulate horse stables a year or so ago. On the first day of hearings, about 250 horse owners showed up as opposed to 10 or so regulation advocates. The proposed regs got tabled and have not seen the light of day since.

I worked on the campaign (treasurer) for a U.S. Congressman for 6 years and one clear lesson is that a vocal group, if even a minority, can stop or change a lot. Unfortunately, many politicians are constantly on the hunt for something to do to justify their existence. So even one aggrieved person can get a spineless politician to champion his or her cause. I didn't get a clear idea how far the legislation has progressed, but the quicker someone organizes the better.

In the instance of Phoenix, a local Horseman's Publication, feed stores, and boarding facilities all posted information and helped organize opposition. There is a great "family" of horse owners as is witnessed on this site and it is not hard to rally to a cause. If you would like some more specific ideas email me and I would be glad to help you any way I can.

Keep us posted.

Dennis

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 17, 2002 - 7:40 am:

Excellent suggestions Dennis. I suspect that frequently in these cases a few are complaining and many will be affected it just is a matter of getting those affected organized.
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 17, 2002 - 12:08 pm:

Thanks, Dennis, agree absolutely that organizing is the key. We are already making our voices heard, but maybe need to think about how we can turn up the volume.
Melissa
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