Council to discuss animal ordinance

Proposed change addresses permitted number of animals on property

Simpsonville, S.C. — Simpsonville City Council will discuss tonight a proposed change to the Code of Ordinances that would remove the mention of a numerical limit on how many animals are allowed to be kept on a given property.

City ordinance currently allows a resident or household to keep at most four animals.

"It shall be a nuisance to keep more than four animals on the premises of any real estate lot of less than one acre in size," according to Section 6-84(a), which pertains to "nuisance animals." The regulation does not apply to veterinarian or boarding establishments in compliance with licensing and zoning laws.

At the Committee of the Whole meeting to be held this evening at 6:30 on the City of Simpsonville YouTube Channel, Councilman Matthew Gooch of Ward 1 will propose the rule change. In a memorandum to City Council, Gooch said the rule is redundant, makes no distinction between types of animals and penalizes people for temporary situations.

The redundancy of the rule pertains to the description of an animal public nuisance found in the section on nuisance animals. "Maintaining property in a manner that is offensive, annoying or dangerous to the public health, safety or welfare of the community because of the number, type, variety, density or location of the animals on the property" is a public nuisance, according to Section 6-84(c)(3).

Gooch said in the memo that striking the language prohibiting more than four animals does not change the section on nuisance animals.

"There is an effective limit on the number of animals one can have, and it gives the animal control officer discretion in [Section 6-84(c)(3)] of the ordinance," Gooch said.

Because the language in question does not differentiate between types of animals, a household with five fish is in violation of the ordinance in the same way that a household with five dogs or even one with an ant farm is in violation. Lastly, Gooch said a household with a litter of animals exceeding four that it intends to sale, rescue or give away is also in violation despite the temporariness of the situation.