Ducks ruffling feathers in Newberry neighborhood

Newberry city commissioners are scheduling a workshop to discuss whether they should make any exceptions to the law that farm animals are not allowed in neighborhoods.

The decision to hold a meeting to discuss the issue came about after Ron Dolbeck, a resident of Cottages of Country Way on SW 20^th Avenue, pleaded with the commission to let him keep ducks in his yard, despite the fact that a neighbor had filed a complaint with code enforcement about them. Dolbeck, a father of three, has butterflies, rabbits, ducks and a pond in his back yard. He said that he keeps the animals for the children in the neighborhood to learn from and enjoy.

Dolbeck’s neighbor filed a complaint to code enforcement in October, stating that the ducks were noisy and causing a smell. The neighbor was invited to speak at the commission meeting on Monday evening, but did not attend. Dolbeck said that he has had the ducks for over a year and keeps his yard very tidy, cleaning the pond once a week.

“I don’t think that the rabbits and the ducks and the butterflies would be outside of the scope of what would be considered normal for where I live,” he said.

Commissioner Forte said that she didn’t see anything wrong with him having the ducks. City Manager Ashby also stood up for Dolbeck, saying that he was “taking his City Manager hat off for a minute to say that he doesn’t see an issue as a neighbor and a friend.” He described Dolbeck as a “pied piper of children in the neighborhood.” A letter that was written to the commission by Deborah Fulton, one of Dolbeck’s neighbors, attested that Dolbeck was a model neighbor.

“We truly enjoy visiting with him and these animals and have no concerns regarding cleanliness or violation of code. We think the pets add a lot to our neighborhood and strongly suggest that Ron be allowed to keep them,” she said.

Tripp Norfleet, whose family construction company built Cottages of Country Way, warned the commission to be careful with its decision. He said it would be hard to tell people that one thing is ok, but another is not. He also mentioned that residents might be worried about the animals decreasing their property value.

“If somebody spends that kind of money on a house, they would like to know that their investment is protected,” he said.

Commissioner Lawson pointed out that residents of other neighborhoods have complained about chickens, goats and potbellied pigs recently and that the code was enforced in those cases.

Lowell Garrett, city planner, said that he has noticed that the issue keeps coming up and recommended that the commission hold a workshop to discuss if there should be an exception for animals that are “more pets than farm animals.” The commission motioned to schedule a workshop and invited anyone in the community that wanted to speak out about the issue to attend. The date of the workshop will be advertised when it is selected.

The ducks will be allowed to stay for now. Action by code enforcement has been suspended pending the zoning change consideration.