Mattawan Farm Animals Attacked by Township Bureaucrats

[XLFD]

 

The title might hint at bestiality, but what happening in this small town east and a little south of Kalamazoo is just beastly.  A well-kept small farm is compliant with zoning, but due to a complaint by a well-connected neighbor (of urban upbringing, it is said) they now are being forced to move out some of the animals because of some arbitrary policy used by this township to restrict the amount of animals per acre.  Even though most of the people of the community spoke up for this farmer and attest to the farm being a community asset, the will of the many is overruled by the power-hunger of the few.

Kelly Vander Kley Hunter and her family have spent the last three years pouring their time and money into building a small hobby farm in Mattawan, MI. Today, they are fighting their local township government in order to keep their farm animals.

“We feel like we’re under a microscope. We feel like everything we do, on our own property, we have to get permission from the township,” says Vander Kley Hunter.

Roughly a three hour drive from Detroit, Mattawan is a rural community that is home to many small farms with many farm animals.

Yet Vander Kley Hunter had still checked before purchasing the property to make sure that having animals would be all right, and the township confirmed that farm animals were indeed allowed. But earlier this summer, the Hunters received a letter stating that their farm was no longer in compliance with the township zoning ordinance and that they had 90 days to get rid of more than half of their animals.

“It knocked the wind out of my sails,” says Vander Kley Hunter, "I was pretty depressed for awhile over it."

Vander Kley Hunter says that her neighbor complained to the township about the animals, thus prompting the township to reinterpret the ordinance and state that the Hunter farm was out of compliance.

“The local government can change the zoning of any parcel of land on a whim,” says Reason Foundation’s Adrian Moore, “it's being played out basically on crony politics rather than any kind of real, objective standard."

Moore says that property rights have eroded vastly over the last 100 years in America, and that these kinds of issues should be resolved in the courts, not in the political arena that is far more susceptible to abuse.

“The fact that the neighbors are using the political process rather than the court system already says they’ve got a somewhat suspicious complaint.”

Moore says the only way to fight a political battle is with politics, and that the community has to rise up against the township. Luckily for the Hunters, the community has come to their aid and is speaking out against the township at regular town hall meetings.

 

“The support that we’ve received from all of this has been completely overwhelming, I’ve never experienced anything like it,” says Vander Kley Hunter.

Vander Kley Hunter is hopeful that the community's support combined with her family's persistence will be enough to save her animals

http://reason.com/reasontv/2013/08/29/michigan-townships-crony-poli...

[Willy]

I suggest that anyone purchasing property to get a copy of the zoning ordinance before you buy. These folks naively took the word of an "official". Many "officials are not up on many of the codes and any thing an "official" tells the public that is contrary to the code cannot stand as permission to violate the code. I would be interested in reading their zoning codes to see for myself exactly what the violations are because Mrs. Hunter will be allowed to keep some animals but not all of them so the property is clearly allowed to be agriculture in nature but on a limited basis. Just because the public doesn't agree with the zoning boards decision doesn't give anyone permission to be in violation of the code. Now having said that, It is pretty darn petty to complain about agriculture use that may potentially exceed the limits of animal possession. Even if the Hunters were to eliminate half of their animals that would not stop the odors or flies the complaining women is concerned about. The foolish lady lives in an agriculture zone where, God forbid, there is going to be manure and flies. If she doesn't like it she should move to a sterile homestead.

[XLFD]

I would imagine the zoning law created by some of these rural townships can be open to a wide interpretation either way.  Some may be set up that way in the first place, or they just don't polish the wording too well due to legal naivete.

We have some background video on the neighbor woman:

[AQUAMAN]

I think the Hunter's are a breed of citizenry that is being swept aside in favor of more crony politics and absurd zoning laws too. They are trying to raise their kids with the respect and love for animals, along with a strong work ethic, and making vast improvements to a parcel of land that was in disrepair. Even other neighbors state how they wished their farm was so well maintained and full of life. I say find a way to either buy out the neighbor lady, or just let her adjust to the new farm next door. The do have pest control companies that can spray for any nuisances that might be overwhelming too. The neighbor lady sounds too selfish and intrusive to me.