A Few Silly Questions About Goats And Zoning.

[Sword]

I was talking to someone earlier who said that in Lake County, IL , If you have land that is zoned for horses you can get four goats instead. I have not found anything that supports this claim, and I don't want to draw attention to myself by asking someone official. Does anyone here know if this is a wonderful little loophole, or just wishful silliness?

 

[LarryPQ]

You need to pull up your municipal code, and then look through your zoning ordinances.

 

[Sword]

It looks like it may be legal to keep goats in unincorparated Lake County after all. It doesn't specifically say what animals you can or can't keep (like it does in the town laws) but it says that "Other Agricultural Uses" are permitted on Rural Estate lots of 200,000 sq feet or more. How many acres is that?

 

[gbeauvin]

I believe that's ~4.5 acres?

-GB

 

[Lisa7907]

That's a bit under 4.5 acres.

 

[Sword]

Bother. I have about 2.5 acres.

Edit to add:
It does say that I can have a private stable on the land. I probably can't get away with mini dairy goats living in a private stable, right? It also says I can do "agricultural education" here, but I can't find the exact definition of what that means. Can I get away with it if I teach people about goats?

 

[Sword]

Do you think I could try to apply for a variance? I can only find building variances in the county ordinances. Do you need a special reason to get a variance? Has anyone here ever gotten one?

 

[gbeauvin]

It can't hurt! I looked into a variance in Hartselle, AL (which specifically outlaws chickens in the city limits except for Ag zoned property), and it's only a $15 fee to apply. We're thinking of buying a house in the Hartselle area (awesome schools, which will trump my chicken desires), and the first thing I'm gonna do is file a variance request

.

-GB

 

[Sword]

Do you think that it would be easier to get a variance for Nigerian Dwarfs than full size breeds? Or does that not really make any difference?

 

[BunnyGirlxoxo]

Did you ever apply for a variance? I'm thinking about doing so here in Virginia and I live in agricultural zoning. Rules are ridiculous here.