Horses...On Main Street...In Ivoryton?

ESSEX, CT — Several town residents showed up, both in-person and remotely, to the August 3, Planning and Zoning Commission meeting to weigh in at the public hearing section of the meeting concerning the keeping of horses on a parcel of land on Main Street in Ivoryton.

Tom Metcalf, a civil engineer who is the agent who filed the request to the town to amend a section of the Zoning Regulations,("PZC Application 21-6 Text Amendment to Section 60A.3(E) of the Zoning Regulations to allow the keeping of horses in a Village Residence (VR) District with minimum 3 (three) acre land size and maximum number of horses restrictions. Agent: Thomas Metcalf, P.E. L.S.; Applicant: Mary Cunliffe Lewis and Ian Carr Lewis (Received July 6, 2021)," explained that his intent is to purchase approximately three acres from Mary and Ian Lewis, to build a dwelling and keep two horses.

The Lewis's, who live at 2 Main Street, in Ivoryton, have a property with 10.29 acres, which has, "an historical farm use associated with it," according to an e-mail regarding proposed text amendment sent to the Chairman of the Essex PZC, Russell Smith from Tom Metcalf.

The current zoning regulations, in short, state that the three Village Residence Districts (Ivoryton, Centerbrook and Essex) are not permitted to keep livestock, poultry, or other animals except as household pets.

Metcalf again cited information at the meeting, from Stable Management Magazine, which quotes Mike Yoder, Extension Assitant and Professor Specialist Extension Horse Husbandry at North Carolina State University as saying, "I normally recommend two acres for the 1st horse and one additional acre for each additional horse."

In addition, Metcalf explained to the Commission that 33 residents had signed a petition that they were in favor of the text amendment as proposed.

He also explained that he planned to use, "best management practices" to keep the horses and remove manure from the property.

Neighbor, Jim Parker who lives across the street from the property in question, spoke in favor of the amendment and said, "I think this is a step in the right direction. It would benefit the town because horses are part of who we are. The property was a farm and it is an asset to our village."

However, some who were present did not share Parker's opinion and instead cited the fact that if this, "blanket change were to be made to the amendment," then there will be other parcels throughout town that will be given the same option to house horses.

Metcalf explained that he had done some research and found that currently there are 39 parcels in Essex, Centerbrook and Ivoryton village districts that would be affected by this amendment change; 10 are town-owned, one is a cemetery and six are commercial properties, leaving a total of 22 parcels that could potentially seek to have horses if this amendment was passed. If the amendment was changed and specified four acres instead of three, a total of 19 parcels would be affected; three of which are commercial, four are town-owned and another three are in two separate zoning zones.

Greg Ellis of Essex vocalized his disapproval of the change in the amendment, pointing out that he is mostly concerned with how others may manage their horses if they were allowed to get them.

Questions from the Commission members orbited around which arm of the town government would be responsible for monitoring and enforcing that "horses were managed properly in town."

In the end, the Commission felt that this was a discussion that needed to be tabled to the next meeting and a motion was made. The Essex Planning and Zoning Commission meeting will be held on held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, September 7th. For more information go to https://www.essexct.gov/.

Click here to subscribe to our daily email newsletters and breaking news alerts delivered to your inbox and mobile devices for free. You can also support local journalism by donating as little as $5 a month to become a supporting member or by downloading our free Patch mobile app.