Steamboat Pilot & Today

Hayden — Several Hayden residents expressed frustration Thursday night with revisions the Town Board made a month ago to its animal ordinances.

In general, residents said the revisions were too specific on what animals could be kept in town. For example, several 4-H members said they felt they should be able to keep chickens, even though the revised ordinance prohibits farm animals.

"In determining what is a household pet and what is a farm animal, there seems to be a lot of gray area," said Robin Bush, a 4-H member. "This ordinance seems so black and white."

Bush, along with other residents, suggested the ordinance might be more appropriate if, instead of banning certain animals, it dealt with animals on a case-by-case basis when nuisance complaints were filed.

Trustees Ken Gibbon and Tim Frentress agreed that cases could be dealt with one at a time.

The Town Board decided to include poultry as possible household pets. Poultry includes any breed of chicken, turkey, duck, goose, peafowl or other feathered animal. The board also said special 4-H projects that would require a resident to have some sort of livestock in town for a short while would be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

With resident and board agreement on the revisions, an official copy of the ordinance will be made, which the board should sign at the next meeting.

In other discussion, several residents complained that notices were put on their mobile carports, ordering that residents move them.

Routt County Chief Building Official Mark Marchus said several carports in town have encroaching on street rights of way or exceed required setbacks.

Trustees said the notices were distributed to clarify the regulations for residents. The Town Board agreed to create an ordinance that would grandfather in all existing carports and limit the size of the carports to 600 square feet and require new carport builders to submit site plans before construction.

The board also passed a resolution proclaiming April as "The Month of the Young Child."

The board denied a request by county resident Brett Brooks to extend the town's water main so that Brooks could tap into it. A moratorium passed in 1996 prevents water and sewer tap approvals for properties outside the municipal boundaries of Hayden.

-- To reach Nick Foster call 871-4204

or e-mail nfoster@steamboatpilot.com