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Man seeking permit for up to 230 farm animals at home asked by Planning Commission to provide more specifics
- Mark Sabbatini
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
‘Whether it's a duck or a horse makes a difference,’ chair says as vote postponed until Sept. 8; current request is for up to 200 chickens and 30 ‘other’ animals
By Mark Sabbatini
Juneau Independent
A man applying to keep up to 200 chickens and 30 other farm animals on his Back Loop residential property is being asked by the Juneau Planning Commission to provide more specifics about what type of animals he wants and how many of them.
Shawn Kantola presented his case to the commission at its meeting Tuesday night, stating he plans to keep a much smaller number of animals for the use of his family of seven who will be living in a newly built house on the Silver Street property. Concern was expressed during the meeting by neighbors about noise, odors and other impacts of the animals, along with questions about why he was seeking such a high number of animals in the conditional use permit application.
The commission, after a couple of members suggested amending the application to allow for fewer animals, postponed consideration of the application until its Sept. 8 meeting, asking Kantola to provide specifics about the type and number of "other" animals he wants on his property.
"Whether it's a duck or a horse makes a difference," said Erik Pedersen, chair of the planning commission.
Only five of the nine commission members were present at the meeting, so all of them would have needed to agree on a vote to approve or disapprove the permit.
Kantola told the commission one reason for the number of animals in the permit application is when it comes to chickens "I don't want to do 10 or 20 at a time. I would like to be able to do 100 at once" so his family has a supply for more than a short period. He said the request for the other animals is based on the practical realities of raising even a small number of them.
"If as our kids grow up we have a pig and we decide to have one litter of piglets, and it happens to have 14 pigs in that one litter we would be breaking the rules by having that many pigs on the farm, even if they're a foot in size," he said.
Among the residents living nearby expressing concerns was Christine Millay, who said the Kantolas are "very good family friends" and the concept is "a wonderful idea," but "I don't want that disrupting my dream home."
"I do not want to be smelling anything," she said. "We had 15 chickens and it stunk to high heaven, even on our best efforts to clean. I'm concerned about bear attractants. I'm concerned I had heard something about illuminating lights. But it's the roosters — I don't want to wake up at the crack of dawn. I would like to be able to sleep in."
Another neighbor, Chip McMillan, expressed similar concerns along with skepticism about a permit seeking to keep so many animals for one family’s use.
"It makes me wonder if this is not an entirely honest request," he said.
General support for the proposal was voiced by Aaron Morrison, another nearby resident.
"On a two-acre lot with the buffer around it I see this as not a problem in terms of the quantity and size of what he's asking for," Morrison said, adding he does have questions about whether Kantola’s application would allow development on a vacant lot that’s part of that buffer.
A report to the commission by Brandon Robinson, a city planner, recommends approval of the permit with several conditions that include noise limits, an electrified fence to protect against bears, water quality safeguards, odors not being detectable beyond the property for more than 48 hours, and keeping slaughtering of animals out of view of adjacent properties and public right-of-way areas.
Kantola, in an interview after the meeting, said he doesn’t specifically know yet what types of animals and how many of each he might want to keep on the property. He said he believes the conditions recommended by the city planner’s office should address the concerns expressed by neighbors, and questioned if the commission’s request to provide specifics about types of animals is valid since "farm animals" are a single group in city ordinance.
"I need to talk to the city and find out what's actually allowed by code as far as that limitation goes — if they just have unlimited ability to pick and choose or how that works," he said.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.
