CC Minutes - 03/14/11 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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loved their backyard farms and were beginning to ask him about other aspects about biodiversity, including goats. He suggested the percentage of residents who would actually purchase goats was quite small. Christelle Munnelly, 4445 Fox Hollow Road, introduced herself as a soap maker who used goat's milk in her manufacturing process and relied on local resources for her supply. She suggested that if the City allowed goats more residents would keep them and she would be able to pick up her raw materials locally on her bicycle. She could also keep her own goats. Alexandra Rempel, 460 Mary Lane, advocated for the City to accommodate goats on smaller residential lots than were currently allowed. She noted that currently, the City allowed goats in R -I zones on lots of more than one -half acre. She shared details of how several United States cities, including Seattle, Washington; Vancouver, Washington; Berkley, California; Charlottesville, Virginia; and Portland, Oregon regulated goat keeping inside their city limits and provided that information to the council. Cam Fax, no address given, advocated for the City to allow goats on plots smaller than was currently allowed. He said that dogs made more noise than goats. He spoke of the efficiency of goats and the fact they provided milk. He pointed out that dogs produced nothing by way of food products, although he acknowledged some people ate them. He did not understand why the council did not allow goats in the city when it allowed dogs and cats in apartments. Marshall Gause, 2520 Van Buren Street, also spoke in favor of changing the code to allow goats in the urban setting. He believed they were an important part of an urban ecosystem. Goats produced between one and eight pounds of milk daily and were easily trained. Current regulations precluded goat keeping on properties below a certain size, and he believed that was a matter of food justice. If the City changed the code, those who lived on smaller spaces and would benefit from goats could now own them. He said that many people were excited about the issue and had become involved in an effort to change the code. They had formed a group called Eugene Urban Goats and had collected more than 152 signatures of Eugene residents in support of changing the code to allow goats on normal sized urban lots. In the interim, he suggested the City freeze enforcement of the current code. Sage Fox, no address given, asked the council to allow goats within the city limits because they produced milk and were an outstanding source of milk because one goat could produce one quart of milk per day. Two goats could produce enough milk for a family, which avoided packaging costs and eliminated the carbon emissions required for transporting milk. Goat's milk could come from the back yard and no fossil fuel was needed to transport it. He also believed that goat's milk from one's back yard was superior to commercially produced milk as one could control what was fed to the goats. Katja Kohler, 2520 Van Buren Street, said she would like to devote part of her 8,000 square -foot lot to two small milking goats. She urged the council to either suspend enforcement of the current code or change it. Her children could not digest pasteurized milk but could drink the raw milk that would be supplied by the goats. She pointed out that in addition to milk production, goats consumed blackberries and weeds. Her site visits indicated that people who lived in Portland and Seattle and kept goats were satisfied with the regulations in those communities even those communities were more densely populated than Eugene. Her family was unable to afford sufficient land to meet current code requirements but she assured the council that her family would give its goats and chickens a better life than they would otherwise have. MINUTES — Eugene City Council March 14, 2011 Page 2 Regular Meeting