STANLY COUNTY Waten Ain Land. Sucoesr.  Stanly County Board of Adjustment July 13, 2022-N Meeting Minutes  Call to Order Chair Cindy Fish called the meeting to order on July 13,2022 at 6:30 p.m. in the Gene McIntyre Meeting Room at 10001 N. First Street, Albemarle, North Carolina. Bob Remsburg served as  Clerk of the meeting.  Stanly County Board of Adjustment Members attending Absent: Brenda Farmer and Billy Franklin Lee Tim Swaringen, Code Enforcement Officer  Richard Cosgrove, Michael Fleming, Cindy Fish, Rick Johnson, Devron Furr and Michael Efird  Stanly County Planning Staff Attending Bobl Remsburg, Planning Director; Bailey Emrich, Planner 2;  Others Present: refer to sign in sheet (Board of Adjustment meeting minutes binder) Chair Cindy Fish asked for ai motion to adopt the agenda ifi no changes needed to be made.  Motion: Rick. Johnson Second: Richard Cosgrove Passed: 6-0  Chair Fish asked for a motion to adopt the minutes from June 14, 2022.  Motion: Richard Cosgrove Second: Michael Fleming Passed: 6-0  Chair Fish announced there would only be one case.  Chair Fish introduced AR: 22-01- a request by Thomas and Peggy Morton and Charles and Kathryn Berry for an Appeal ofal Letter ofl Determination written and issued by Planning Director, Bob Remsburg concerning two determinations made regarding the use of the property located at 1101 Polk Ford Road, 1. Thej property located at 1101 Polk Ford Road, Stanfield, NC: 28163 is a bona fide: farm per NCGS  Stanfield, NC: 28163. The two determinations made were:  160D-903(a)(3).  2. Thel border collies on thej property are a farm use per NCGS 106-851.1  Those who signed in on the sign up sheet to speak came forward to recite the swearing in ceremony.  1    Chair Fish "The Stanly County Board of Adjustment is a quasi-judicial board. Therefore, the North Carolina State Statute, requires that the board base its decisions only on testimony given under oath. Any person who, while under oath during this proceeding, willfully swears falsely, is guilty ofa class 1 misdemeanor. Ifanyone refuses tol be sworn, your statement will not not be treated as evidence on which Chair Fish "Before opening the evidentiary hearing, Iv would like to give Board members a chance to reveal any possible conflicts that you may have and withdraw from these proceedings ifnecessary".  tol base a decision but merely as arguments".  No Board members had a conflict.  Chair Fish "Any Board members who have any information or special knowledge about the case that may come out at thel hearing tonight, please describe that information for the record sO that interested  persons willl know and can respond". Chair Fish explained the proceedings.  Chair Fish "Parties may cross examine each witness after the witness testifies when questions are called for. If you want thel Board to see written evidence such as reports and maps or exhibits, the witness who is familiar with the evidence should ask that it bei introduced during or at the end ofh his /her testimony. The Board cannot accept reports from persons who are: notl here to testify. Attorneys who speak should not give factual testimony but may summarize their client's case. Before you begin your testimony, please  clearly identify yourself for the record."  Chair Fish asked. Planning Staff to. share the details of AR: 22-01. Planner 2, Bailey Emrich shared the following:  Thomas and Peggy Morton and Charles and Kathryn Berry have requested an Appeal ofal Letter of Determination written and issued by Planning Director, Bob Remsburg concerning two determinations made regarding the use oft the property located at 1101 Polk Ford Road, Stanfield, NC28163. (Tax Onl March 15, 2022 the Board of Adjustment voted to continue their quasi judicial hearing concerning SUP 22-02- A request by Josh and Rebecca Gibson for a Special Use Permit to operate a commercial Dog) Kennel at 1101 Polk Ford Road, Stanfield, NC: 28163. This hearing was continued due to the upcoming Voluntary Ag District Board meeting regarding this property being added into the Voluntary Ag On April 8, 2022 Josh and Rebecca Gibson requested a Letter ofI Determination from Planning Director, Bob Remsburg regarding their property located at 1101 Polk Ford Road, Stanfield, NC: 28163. The Gibsons requested that Mr. Remsubrg determine if their property at 1101 Polk Ford Road was a bona fide farm and whether the border collies on the property constitute as a farm use. Per State Statute 160D-403 "The officer making the decision shall give written notice to the owner of the property that is the subject oft the determination and to the party who sought the determination if different from the owner".  Record #28096).  District Program.  2    On April 13,2022 Mr. Remsburg mailed the Letter ofDetermination to both the Gibsons and those who initially received an adjoiner letter regarding thej previous Special Use Permit request. In Mr. Remsburg's 1.1 The property located at 1101 Polk Ford Road, Stanfield, NC: 28163 is al bona fide farm per NC  letter he made two determinations:  160D-903(a)(3).  2.The border collies on thej property are a farm use per NCGS 106-581.1.  Mr. Remsburg indicated in his letter that based on his determinations there would be no: requirement fora Special Use Permit or any other Stanly County Zoning Ordinance requirements to be met for farm uses on thej property. Upon receiving this determination, Josh and Rebecca Gibson: requested to remove their Per 160D-405(d) "The owner or other party shalll have 30 days from receipt of the written notice of determination within which to file an appeal. Any other person with standing to appeal shall have 30 days from receipt from any source ofa actual or constructive notice of the determination within which toi file an appeal." On May 12th, 2022 the Stanly County Planning Department received the Application for Appeal oft the Letter of] Determination to the Board of Adjustment from Hartsell & Williams, PA ini representation As the Board you may reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify the decision appealed from and shall make any order, requirements, decision, or determination that ought to be made. You have the powers of the official who made the decision. The decision must resolve contested facts, be based on competent, material, and substantial evidence in the record, and bej provided to thej parties as a written Therefore, as the Board of Adjustment you will be voting on Mr. Remsburgs two determinations 1.Thep property located at 1101 Polk Ford Road, Stanfield, NC: 28163 is al bona fide farm per NC  application for a Special Use Permit.  ofThomas and Peggy Morton and Charles and Kathryn Berry.  decision document.  individually, which were: 160D-903(a)(3).  2.The border collies on thej property are a farm use per NCGS 106-581.1. Ms. Emrich displayed a slideshow of maps of 1101 Polk Ford Road, Stanfield.  Chair Fish asked if the Board or any other parties present had questions regarding the staff report. Chair Fish asked to hear from those in favor of the determination. She asked attorneys or representatives  There were none.  present to go first and provide a general summary oft their clients position.  County Attorney,Jenny Furr shared the following:  3    Iam the Stanly County Attorney. Iwill be appearing before the Board this evening representing Planning Director, Bob Remsburg as Bailey summarized, Bobi made a determination as to the Gibson Property. I won't go through the already shared information but I would like to call Mr. Remsburg up as my first witness to provide evidence to you all as to why the Gibson property is al bonafide farm and why the  border collies are in fact ai farm use. Mr. Remsburg shared the following:  This was an interesting case that came before us and I was asked to make a determination on two things. As shared, the idea of whether this was a bona fide farm or not. These statutes are pretty clear on this in 160-903(a)(3) it states that al bona fide farm is any farm or property that can demonstrate that they have filed a schedule! F with their federal income tax return. The Gibsons provided that information with 5 years of evidence that they have filed andl have continuously filed since they got to this property and began this operation in 2015. With that information, that determination was fairly straight forward that as That led us to the second question which of course is whether border collies used on the property for the herding of animals and then for aj public use as well, ift those were actually a farm use or if they served a commercial purpose. Ihad to dig al bit and eventually) I looked at North Carolina Statute 106-581.1, this is the part that defines agriculture and farming. Inj part of that, it is described as being "dairying and the raising, management, care and training ofl livestock, including horses, bees, deer, elk, poultry, and other animals for individual public use, consumption and marketing". So, II had to look at that and consider,what are Border Collies? Of course this states other animals and livestock. In your packet was a reference to a case in Wake County which determined that dogs were not livestock. The interesting part of that is that although dogs may not be livestock, this also mentions bees, poultry, deer, elk and other animals. So, it was not really a question of whether dogs are livestock or not. The Stanly County definition oflivestock is pretty basic because it talks about being for personal use. Looking at that and the statute on agriculture regarding individual and public use for consumption or marketing and of course it includes training oft those animals. The evidence that the Gibsons presented shows that one oft the main things they do on that property is train the border collies. It says fori individual or public use, the Gibsons indicated they have about 40 sheep on1 the property and one oft the necessary things with that comes herding them. The border collies are being used as al herding animal. The other part is public use, and to be trained for that public use. The border collies that are trained on the property in question are used for a public purpose which: is to chase geese from airports and airport runways, and other public places. That was a key component to this, there are lots of other materials that were: included also regarding the use ofborder collies as animals. This is a very specific dog that is raised for a very specific purpose which is herding. By looking at that and thej public use, Imade the determination that the border  the statute states all that you have to doi is show a schedule F has been filed.  collies were ai farm use. Ihope that addresses the question. Chair Fish asked ift there were any questions for Mr. Remsburg.  Michael Fleming "Iti is my understanding that in the Wake County case that the petitioner was actually involved in a dog breeding operation, which is not the case here. Did you take that into account as it  4    relates to all the other issues with dogs? Because they were slanted towards dogs trying to be classified as Mr. Remsburg "Yes, Id did consider that in this case.. The idea in that case is that those dogs werel being Michael Fleming Specifically in the definition of agriculture that was given in that synopsis which essentially said "including every process and step necessary and incidental to", the question Ihavei is, does this case speak to the use of dogs as ai farm tool? No different from a tractor, fence, or anything else  livestock and that isi not the case: in this."  bred for sale."  that helps in the aid of management ofai farm?"  Mr. Remsburg "I would state that I believe that is true. Dogs are a tool."  Michael Fleming "Tjust wanted to clarify how much weight we should put on that case versus this case." Mr. Remsburg "Right, and I believe there are: some. key differences between them. Iincluded thati in your  packet because Idid look at that case specifically to see ifit would apply." Michael. Fleming asked for Mr Remsburg s packet to be admitted as evidence.  Board Attorney, Mark Lowder "I caution you that ifyoui intend to view it and use it in your discussion, Michael Fleming - Mrs. Gibson indicated that they received a letter from your department that they had to get a special use permit or had 14 days to shut down the operation. Could that letter be admitted as  you need to make sure all ofiti is properly entered."  evidence to understand where this started?"  Mr. Remsburg "Yes."  Michael Fleming "Iwant to get to the definition ofl kennel because there are: multiple ways to talk about this. The land use ordinance of Stanly County defines it as a commercial operation that provides food and shelter for an animal for purposes not primarily related to medical care or engages in the breeding of animals for sale. Incidental breeding or litter sale shall not constitute al kennel. That is one ofthe definitions. The other one is simply aj physical structure to house dogs. A commercial kennel receives dogs from the outside for the care, sheltering or specified time fora a fee or sells puppies on a regular basis. Mr. Remsburg "That is correct. There is a structure there that you may call a kennel because it houses the border collies but I would not call it a commercial kennel because the primary purpose is not tol breed  Isityour opinion that this is not a commercial kennel?"  the border collies."  Cindy Fish "Thel letter concerning the 14 days, has that been provided to the other side?" Attorney Furr "Ido not know ift theyl have received it before this afternoon. I did send it tol him today in response to aj public records request, I did not realize that it may be referred tot this evening. I can have Mark Lowder "Ify you are going to introduce it, you need to share it with the other side." Chair Fish "Lets go ahead and enter the folder ofi information into evidence."  someone go make copies."  5    Chair. Fish asked ifany oft the other parties present had questions for Mr Remsburg.  Attorney Andrew Cornelius representing the Mortons and the Berrys expressed he had questions for Mr: Attorney Cornelius "] How many Border Collies do the Gibsons have on their property?" Mr. Remsburg "They indicated to us that they generally have no fewer than 25 on thej property at any Attorney Cornelius "So your determination is that having between 25-40 border collies on a property that has approximately 40 sheep and some other animals, that would be a farm use?"  Remsburg.  given time. They could have as many as 40."  Mr. Remsburg "That is correct."  Attorney Cornelius "Is there any point in time when the number of] Border Collies on the property would Mr. Remsburg "If the Border Collies are there to be trained or for farm use then the answer is no." Attorney Cornelius "Are the Border Collies on their property used for anything other than for farm Mr. Remsburg "I am not aware oft them being used for any other uses on that property." Attorney Cornelius' "Are you aware ofwhether or not the Gibsons operate al business out of that Mr. Remsburg "They operate FlyAwayGeese.com, but that would be an incidental business based on the Attorney Cornelius "I am curious about the term incidental, but we will come back to that. What is the Mr. Remsburg That is thej public use side of things where they use those dogs tol lease to government agencies and other things to result in the elimination or eradication of geese from properties such as Attorney Cornelius "So, according to their website, they sell or lease dogs to really whoever wants them.  increase to such that it would no longer be considered a farm use?"  uses?"  property?" farming statute."  purpose oft the fly away geese business?" airports and other public uses."  They don't have to be public, some oft them are private as well, correct?" Mr. Remsburg "Ifiti is aj public use, it is a public use." commercial operation that they run using those dogs."  Attorney Cornelius "But, to keep the geese or other animals away from places of business that isa  Mr. Remburg "Correct." Mr. Remsburg "I ami not."  Attorney Cornelius "Are you aware of what kind of revenue that business generates?"  6    Attorney Cornelius "Are you aware of what kind ofr revenue their farm generates?" Mr. Remsburg "Not] particularly, Ihave seen the schedule F forms but that isi it."  Attorney Cornelius "The most recent schedule F that they submitted from 2020, Ib believe the revenue  was int the range of6 6,000 dollars. Does that sound right?" Mr. Remburg "T would have to look but it is certainly feasible, yes." flya away geese commercial business would exceed that?"  Attorney Cornelius "So, from the farm that would be ai revenue. Do you imagine the revenue: from the  Mr. Remsburg "I do not know."  Attorney Cornelius "Ifit did exceed that, do you think at some point in time that the revenue, generated by the business of owning and leasing these dogs would at some point in time change and make these  dogs ai nonfarm use?"  Mr. Remsburg "Based on my interpretation of the statute for agriculture, no."  Attorney Cornelius "So, ift they owned 5001 Border Collies on this property and they sent them all over the world and leased them, sold them, and trained them for this use, your opinion would still be thati itisa Mr. Remsburg' "Ift they are training those dogs on the property for aj public purpose or for the use on that Attorney Cornelius "You were talking about your interpretation of the definition of"other animals" for individual and public use and you said that was part of your basis for determining that these dogs met the criteria oft the statute. So you are saying that these dogs are not livestock but they are other animals." Mr. Remsburg "Yes. Our definition of livestock could include dogs by the county zoning ordinance." Attorney Cornelius "Right, but your county ordinance has different plaçes that talk about dogs and cats Mr. Remsburg "Section 601.1 specifically talks about domestic animals or farm animals but does not Attorney Cornelius " In the materials that you provided, the Special Use Ordinance talks abouta commercial facility used for raising dogs or cats. So to be al kennel under your ordinance you have to raise  farm use that is exempt from these ordinances?" particular farm, Ithink the answer is yes."  differently from livestock or other farm animals, correct?"  mention dogs."  dogs or cats?" Mr. Remsburg "Yes."  Attorney Cornelius "So, there is a separate ordinance that specifically talks about raising dogs, SO dogs and kennels are segregated out separate from livestock or other farm related animals in the ordinance?" Attorney Cornelius "What you're saying is that the Gibsons do not have a commercial operation?"  Mr. Remsburg' "Ifitisa commercial operation, yes."  Mr. Remsburg "Yes, because iti is ai farm."  7    Attorney Cornelius "Could you have a farm and still have a commercial operation as well?" Mr. Remsburg "Yes, in our ordinance you could do that because of the sale of produce, greenhouse,  including the sales ofanimals such as horses you can do that."  Attorney Cornelius "Soi ifiti is incidental to the farm iti is okay to run that business?" Attorney Cornelius "So your opinion is that the dog business is incidental to the farm?"  Mr. Remsburg "Right."  Mr. Remsburg Yes,] Ithink that is correct."  Attorney Cornelius' "Well, that ist the decision that you made and your opinion is that on the dog business there is nothing they could do to change that sO that it would not bei incidental to the farm?"  Mr. Remsburg "Only if they dropped their farm status." Attorney Cornelius "And how would that happen?"  Mr. Remsburg "No longer file a schedule F or the other 4 definitions in the statute that defines ai farm for Attorney Cornelius "Do the Stanly County. Animal Control ordinances apply to the dogs on the Gibson Mr. Remsburg "Probably not, I will say we do not enforce that ordinance in our office but because the Attorney Cornelius "The exception that you are talking about was a part of the information in the packet provided by the gibsons as part of their request for this determination. It only lists the exceptions section;  zoning purposes." property?"  ordinance has an exception for dogs on farms."  it does not have the full section of the ordinance."  Mr. Remsburg Right."  Attorney Cornelius "That section that says they are exempt says this article shall not apply to a dog, and itl lists herding dogs, but this article if you were to look at the whole thing is article 8 that is dealing with dangerous animals or potentially dangerous animals. So the exemption only applies to dangerous animals,  not the entire animal control ordinance. Do you agree with: me?"  Mr. Remsburg I am not familiar enough with it to make a determination on that."  Attorney Cornelius' "I don't think I have any further questions and apologize ifI came off rough." County Attorney, Jenny Furr asked Chair Fish ifshe could ask Mr Remsburg somej follow up questions. Attorney Furr "You were asked if anything could change your determination, what ift the Gibsons were to get rid of the cows, horses dogs, pigs, geese, ram and sheep. What if they got rid oft those animals and  Chair Fish allowed her to proceed.  there were no longer animals for the collies tol herd?"  8    Mr. Remsburg "Part oft the use, asI Iunderstand it, for the animals that you just named besides the collies is for the purpose of training. It think the determination would have to come from whether the dogs could bet trained without those animals present. It think the key toi it is whether the dogs are being trained on that property and for public use. Thei training aspect is key, and those animals are partly used for training as I Attorney Furr "As far as thej public use, do you know how long the dogs have been used for public Mr Remsburg "I don't know specifically but I know that according to the information from the Gibsons they began this process in 20161 but exactly what time they became leased or used for the public Ia ami not Attorney Furr "Do you know how long the dogs have been used for herding purposes on their [property Mr. Remsburg "As far as I understand it, 2016 is when that started. They can clarify that but I would Attorney Furr "So iti is your understanding that the Gibsons have been in the collie. /fly away geese  understand: it." purposes?" sure."  for the sheep, cows, gesse, etc.?" imagine that would happen at the same time."  business since 2016?" Mr. Remsburg "Correct."  Attorney Furr Have you ever had any complaints from neighbors about thej property?" Mr. Remsburg' Not prior to summer of2021 that I am aware of. Ihave only been Planning Director for three years so ifit happened before then Ihave not been made aware ofit."  Attorney Furr shared. she had noj further questions.  Chair Fish asked ifthere were any further questions) from the parties present or board members. Chair Fish "Just tol keep my evidence clean, the letter from May 14th concerning the Special Use Permit, can we take a minute to look at that sO we can submit it into evidence." Attorney Furr "Madam Chair ifI may approach, I was under thei impression that Mr. Fleming was referring to the original zoning code violation letter that is dated January 10, 2022." Attorney Furr approached. and passed out the letter from. January 10, 2022 for the board's review. She shared ifthati is the incorrect letter then the correct one would be located.  Mr. Fleming "The letter provided satisfies."  Chair Fish shard ift there was no opposition then she would like to. submit the letter dated. January. 10,  2022 into evidence.  Chair Fish asked. Attorney Furr to invite her next witness up.  9    Attorney Furr invited. Rebecca Gibson to the podium. Rebecca Gibson shared the following:  My family and I reside at 1101 Polk Ford Road. As you are aware from the last meeting when we were here concerning the Special Use Permit, yes the. January 22nd letter was the first letter we: received that resulted in the request for the Special Use Permit. I would like tos start with a timeline of what has gone on Fly Away Geese was started in 1997,I was a sheep farmer and was training Border Collies to do sheep and cattle and there was not a whole lot ofmoney in that field in the 90s. Farmers were. not wanting to pay for working dogs. I was working for al lady in Virginia training dogs for sheep and cattle and she was the first one to train a border collie to do goose control for golf courses and she said you need to help me dot this. In the early 2000s Fly Away Geese started performing wildlife service management with our Border Collies with all major Air Force bases on the east coast. Our dogs were working on all these airfields with our handlers doing the management control. Our services work under the USDA. We have sold dogs to airports all over the country and we. have worked with airports in other countries. In 2012,I moved' back to the Charlotte area. Istarted wildlife management in the Charlotte area in 1998, got out of Charlotte when I started with the military airfield and moved with my ex-husband towards the western part oft the state. To train my dogs to do this service II have to have other livestock because ifIl havea In2 2015, my current husband and I married and we bought this farm in May. Livestock arrived before we did. When we: moved in, Mrs. Morton was the first person wei met. She used to clean the home before we moved in. The first sheep arrived in October of2015 and as did the Border Collies. As Mr. Remsburg said in 2015 & 2016 there were: about 401 border collies on the farm at any given time. Our numbers are much lower than that now because I have 27 dogs in Virginia working 241 hours a day and 7days a week. So most of my dogs are, gone right now. Most oft them don't come back, they go to other facilities after that season is over. 8-10 months out of the year 90j percent oft the dogs are gone. There are about 16 dogs on the farm right now. The Mortons mowed the grass for us, fed the dogs for us, they came to neighbor parties and everyone got along. The Berrys as well. Our kids got along and everyone was fine and no one complained about the dogs. It was even talked about how the Mortons had ideas to build our facility to make it better. In 2020, the property between the Mortons property and ours came up for sale. The property owner asked if we wanted it and my husband told them to ask the Mortons first, they were not interested sO we bought it. At that time Mrs. Morton asked ifI would be willing toj pay for 50j percent of the fence on the property line and Iagreed and wrote her a check for $1,700 that was July of2 2020. In October of2020, we: fenced our property with electronet and in the fall of 2020 we: fired the Mortons from doing things on our property because it was very costly. We did not really talk after that, and it had gotten to where it was 400 dollars a week. October 22, 2021 Ihad a farm employee who was fencing along the front oft the property and he went to tie into the fence that we paid 1700 dollars for and Mr. Morton came out and told him that he could not tiei into that fence. My husband called him and said we paid for halfofit but Mr. Morton would not give him much ofar reason. My husband asked for our money back and he said no so my husband told him that we will have to go to court over this, we aren't going to  and has happened as well as some background that will help.  Canada Goose on my property iti is ai federal offense.  10    let them keep our money. We went to court on November 10th and we won the small claims case and on November 11th they paid the $1,700 tot the court and they also called animal control that same day regarding our livestock guardian dog. The first complaint to Stanly County zoning was on December the 7th, 2021 and they called the sheriff's department with many complaints also. Zoning came outi in 2021 and told us to consider getting a special use permit and I explained this was not al boarding facility that they were used for work. Then I got the letter on. January 10th and I called Mr. Swaringen to explain the same thing and Iwas told IH had to get a special use permit. It was not until we got to that meeting that I was told that I could request a determination on our ag status and whether the collies were ofagricultural use. So to add to that, Ihave for all ofy you and for the other side as well a document that was produced by the USDA. They have a wildlife conflict division on airfields, military bases, for the public etc. What IH handed you talks about the unacceptable limit of wildlife feces in pastures, trampling and emerging crops, erosion, etc. It talks about farm damage due to Canada Geese but if you go to the safety side it talks about the danger oft the geese and ducks also present human health and safety issues. Thisis the reason we are contracted at every place that we have collies. We do every part for the Cabarrus County Parks Department, UNCC, Charlotte. Douglas Airport, Virginia Department of Transportation. These dogs are working for thej public keeping human health and safety their main goal. Ifit was not for our dogs, the safety of people at the Charlotte Douglas Airport would not be as good as iti is. Everything Attorney Furr "You: said that you had ai number of dogs on your property since 2015 and the neighbors, isi it fair to say none of them complained about you or the dogs until after you won the small claims Mrs. Gibson "That is correct and II have every text message from Mrs. Morton since the day we moved in and there have been no complaints until after that small claims case and not from the Berry's either." Attorney Furr "Can you summarize for thel board the types of animals you have on the farm and the Mrs. Gibson" "3 cows, 6 geese, 2 pigs, 21 horses, 25 ducks, 27 sheep, a ram and that isi it." Sally Pleasant brought up a presentation, for Mrs. Gibson to. show the animals and the. structures on the Mrs. Gibson "T don't know ifI can submit it but I have an affidavit from a major in the US Airforce who worked with us on our contracts talking about the airforce and how these airfields were: farm fields at one time and how they correlate with the farming side oft things. He could not bel here in Florida but I do not  we do has to do with livestock and working these dogs.  case?"  number of each oft them."  farm.  know ifit is permissible to add into evidence." Chair Fish allowed for it to be submitted into evidence.  Attorney Furr "Could you explain how your collies work with or train with the other animals on your  property?"  11    Ms.Gibson "I can'tl have geese sO we use the ducks to teach the dogs to swim but because the ducks are small we use the sheep to teach the dogs their left and right commands. We also use the sheep for the sheep dog trials along with the cattle. Some oft the dogs on the farm are not for business, they arej just sheep dog trial dogs. Iknow breeding was mentioned but that is not our main focus, I may have one litter Attorney Furr "We would respectfully ask that the affidavit be added into the record, copies arel being made now. Also, the picture board and the USDA document that Mrs. Gibson handed out to everyone." Chair Fish. shared that once the other. side has seen the evidence and ifthere is no opposition then it can Richard Cosgrove "Back on March 15th we met to determine whether or not you are to be granteda special use permit but that was continued without a decision. There was some mention ofa Voluntary Ag District Program we were waiting to hear from, did you get the results from that?" Mrs. Gibson "No sir, because thel Mortons and the Berrys also protested that in front oft the County Commissioners therefore they would not make a determination on that even though it had no bearing on Mr. Cosgrove "A lot of us have been around kennels, and dogs bark all the time at the drop ofal hat. Mrs. Gibson "I think that Mrs. Pleasant can testify to that better because she came and did decibel readings. My dogs are trained dogs and they do not bark all the time. They will occasionally bark, Iwill not tell you that they do not bark. There will be one dog here and there but when Mr. Swaringen came out and the Sheriff's Office came out and they made comments about how quiet it was. You can come to our home and you won't hear the dogs for two hours. Our property slopes to the river and it is a significant drop from our home to the Mortons and there is a natural berm that prevents sound from traveling fromi it. The reading was no more than 80 with the dogs barking and running the sheep which is the sound ofa  of puppies a year but I do not sell dogs, they all stay with us and train with us."  be submitted as evidence.  this until you all made your decision."  Could you deceive the vocal cords ofyour dogs over aj period oft time?"  washing machine at the end oft the cul-de-sac."  Mr. Cosgrove "When Border Collies herd sheep or geese, do they bark incessantly?" Mrs. Gibson "They don't bark at all. Border Collies are silent workers, they move sheep by putting their heads down, tails in between their legs and staring at them. So there is no barking. They are different from other dogs. They move with their eyes. Ifit! barks when it works iti is not a good collie."  Mr. Cosgrove "What is the working like ofal border collie?"  Mrs. Gibson "10-15 years."  Mr. Cosgrove "So as your dogs age out, how do you replace them?"  Mrs. Gibson "We bring in younger dogs, usually around 81 months to a year old. You can start one until it is at least 8 years old. II like to bring them in early to get them started right offt the bat." Mr. Cosgrove "Do youl have al lot of people come to your home and ask toj purchase a dog?"  12    Mrs. Gibson "They do not just show up at my house."  Mr. Cosgrove "So isi it safe to say that you really don'treally have that much traffic related to the Mrs. Gibson "II have farm employees that come and go daily. We may have 21 to: 3 customers there a month, maybe. That is me being generous. That isj just someone coming to pick up a dog or come to watch them work sheep. Recently Ihave had traffic for a remodel, it has nothing to do with business." Attorney Furr passed out the Affidavit referenced by Mrs. Gibson earlier to: submit into evidence.  collies?"  Chair. Fish had no objections to it- it was submitted into evidence.  Mrs. Gibson passed out the USDA mission. statement and an article on the USDA receiving a presidential Mr. Cosgrove - At an airport, Iknow there is al lot of grass and I assume the geese go to the grass and Mrs. Gibson "Yes, ifs you saw the Miracle on the Hudson, that was due to ai flock of geese and ther reason that the Air Force and military is sO serious about the management ofbirdsi is because in 1980 aj plane crashed because ofa flock of geese and killed all 24 people on board. That plane crash pushed the Air Force to put together their bird aircraft strike hazard program. This forced all bases toj put programs into Attorney Furr "The affidavit you) provided to Mrs. Gibson from Major Ronald Merrit, was he the one: in  award on migratory bird stewardship. defecate. Do geese often fly upi into planes?"  place to avoid this from happening again." charge oft the Bird program on base?" Mrs. Gibson "He was, for the entire Air Force."  Attorney Furr "You: mentioned the Mortons have called 911 and made complaints on you and or your animals the day after the small claims case, it appears that Mrs. Pleasant provided some reports from our Communications Department. Iwould ask that these reports be admitted into evidence as well." Mrs. Gibson "The Mortons have also left up all oft their Halloween decorations, there are 6-8: zombies facing our home 24 hours a day. Along with a camera on an 81 foot pole facing down our driveway, the Lowes guy came today and he got out oft the vehicle and was terrified because of all oft this."  Chair. Fish shared a recap of the items being admitted into evidence: -Geese, Ducks and Coots handout from the USDA -Mission and Goals statement from the USDA -Emergency communication transcripts -USDA Wildlife Services presidential award document -Affidavit of Ronald Merrit -Board ofphotographs on thej farm Ifthere is no objection these will all be accepted as evidence. There was no objection  Attorney Cornelius "Is the purpose of your farm to raise and train these Border Collies?"  13    Mrs. Gibson "The purpose ofi my farm is to train."  Attorney Cornelius "What is the purpose ofy your business, because you talk about the business." Mrs. Gibson "Thej purpose ofi my business is toj provide wildlife management services to the public." Attorney Cornelius "II know inj part oft the packet you submitted, schedule F that gets filed with your tax returns. On the most recent one from 2020 you showed the total income around six thousand and some  dollars for the year 2020, does that sound correct?"  Mrs. Gibson "Yes sir."  Attorney Cornelius "The Schedulel F would not be filed for anything related to your dogs, correct?" Attorney Cornelius "Okay, SO the dogs are separate from the farm the way: you: file your taxes." Mrs. Gibson "I don't know where she puts them to be honest. Ic don't know ift there is a separate schedule Attorney Cornelius "Okay, sO the farm animals get their own schedule FI but the farm animals that you Mrs. Gibson "T do not do the taxes. They include the dogs that work the animals on the farm.Every dog Attorney Cornelius "The reason Iaski is there is a second page on the schedule F that says you filedi it but then it says income related to dogs you would file a schedule C. Do you know ify you file a schedule  Mrs. Gibson "Our accountant puts the dogs in a separate section."  Fi for the: farm animals."  file on your taxes do not include the dogs." on the farm works the animals."  C?"  Mrs. Gibson "I do not know." Mrs. Gibson "No."  Attorney Cornelius "But you did not provide a schedule C with any ofthe items submitted?" Attorney Cornelius "I am assuming that the $6,000 revenue generated by the farm, your business  generates considerably more than that." Mrs. Gibson "Yes."  Attorney Cornelius "Do you know al ballpark number ofwhat your business generated in 2020?"  Mrs. Gibson "I do not know."  Attorney Cornelius "How do you make a living?" ini front ofme, Idon't want to do that." lease them out or sell them."  Mrs. Gibson "By working with my animals on thei farm. Ican't throw out ai number without the numbers Attorney Cornelius "The way you make a living is through the business that you use with your dogs to  14    Mrs. Gibson "Right, and the farm."  Attorney Cornelius "The farm only generated 6000 dollars in 2020."  Mrs. Gibson "That 6,000 dollars is revenue."  Attorney Cornelius "Right, but I am assuming that for you to survive and live and pay your bills that the  revenue stream you receive from the dogs is considerably more than 6000 dollars."  Mrs. Gibson "yes." Mrs. Gibson' "No."  Attorney Cornelius "You don't have any ballpark about the annual revenue for the business?" Attorney Cornelius "But that is where you receive your income, is from that business?"  Mrs. Gibson' "And the farm, yes." Mrs. Gibson "Yes, that is correct."  Attorney Cornelius "Right, Iamj just talking about 2020, that is for you and your husband both?"  Chair Fish asked ifthere were any others present who had questions.  There were. none.  Attorney Furr. shared that concluded their witnesses on behalfoft the county staff  Attorney Cornelius asked ifity was appropriate to make an opening statement or should he go into his Board. Attorney. Mark. Lowder. shared that this is his case and is welcome to proceed how he would like.  witnesses to begin.  Attorney Cornelius called Tommy. Morton to testify on behalfo of the appellants.  Attorney Cornelius asked to. share documentation to go along with his testimony and asked that it be  submitted to the board.  Attorney Cornelius "Could youi introduce yourself to thel board please Mr. Morton." Mr. Morton "I am Thomas Morton and I reside at 1112 Polk Ford Road, Stanfield, North Carolina." Attorney Cornelius "We have heard what Mrs. Gibson has testified about what she does for al living, Mr. Morton "I served the nation as al US marine for 8 years and after that I became aj police officer and Attorney Cornelius "On the screen it shows the correlation of your property, the Gibsons and the Berry property. Can you talk about what you can see from your property and as well as what you have observed  could yout tell the Board what you do?"  retired within 30 years and have retired from the front that profession.  over the years?"  15    Mr. Morton "What] I can see from my porch ist the Gibsons house, their gate and the top oft their dog kennel. Through the years the dogs have become louder and more. As their business of kenneling and raising dogs grew, SO did the traffic on our road. That road is aj private: road and the maintenance falls on the home owners and people who own the property there. Gravel is SO expensive and wel have to keep up with them. At any given time there will be dogs barking incesively. Wel like to work outside and my dogs are trained to not bark and stay on our side but hers are: not. What Mrs. Gibson told you is not all true.  Attorney Cornelius "How long have you lived at your property?" Mr. Gibson "I purchased the property in 2004 in September." irrelevant to the determination of farm status or farm use."  Attorney Furr "Madam ChairIwould object to any testimony as to noise level If feel like that is Attorney Cornelius "Madam Chair in their presentation they brought up the noise level sO if they brought it upi in what they have said we are merely responding toi it.) Iti is not appropriate to bring things up Chair Fish "I understand that but Ithink the reason that was gone into was because it was addressing a Attorney Cornelius "Walk through the history oft the animals being on thej property and the dogs being Mr. Morton "The Gibsons moved in and SO did the animals. The CowS, sheep, duck, at one time a kangaroo. Before all of that there was no fencing and they would break loose and we had to chase them off the property and help bring them back. When we were out oft town one oft the employees asked us to help chase down the dogs. One of their dogs was constantly on our land destroying my yard decorations and lights and we: made that known. Theyl kept showing up and even. Mrs. Gibson admitted that there Attorney Cornelius "You are talking al little about the gravel drive, what kind oft traffic comes and goes Mr. Morton "You have their employees at any part oft the day because iti is a 24 hour dog kennel business, we have had tractor trailers, with flat beds offl loading pallets of food, we have had numerous Amazon, UPS, whatever delivery service. That is upwards of20-30 cars a day just for their business. Attorney Cornelius "I want to talk about how wel have presented the packet ofinformation that we want them to consider tonight. This is aj packet of 60 pages total, they are all numbered. The first page is the statute that Mr. Remsburg has previously talked about 160D-903 governing agriculture. This is the one that talks about bona fide farm regulations. According to the statute if the activity is ai non-farm purpose  on their side and then object toi it whenever it is spoken of on our side. question from our board. So if we could just move along."  on the property."  were 45 dogs at any given time on the property. These dogs bark.  to that property?"  then the ordinance would still apply." Mr. Morton "That is correct."  Attorney Cornelius "Page twol has state statute 106-851.1 which defines agriculture and Mr. Remsburg talked about this. He pointed to sub paragraph three for the basis of why these dogs are a farm use. The way this is worded, there is a comma before including. Mr. Remsburg talked oft the Wake County case,  16    which is on page 51 in thej packet, the next to last paragraph say that dogs are: not included in the classification ofl livestock and that breeding and the operation ofa farm kennel are not a farm use. When we go back to page 2, it talks about dairying and the raising management and care of livestock then a comma. We know that the courts said that the livestock does noti include dogs. Page 3 is part oft the Stanly County ordinance and section 302 talks about the bona fide farm exemption except for any such use for non-farm purposes are subject to the regulations and ordinances. Section 601.2 of the Stanly County ordinance talks about the Special Uses that may be allowed that require approval oft the Board of Adjustment. Ify you look at thel bottom it says if you are operating a commercial kennel or facility for raising dogs then you have to have a special use permit. The county already made that determination, the letter from January 10th says that they were operating al kennel and theyl had to get a special use permit. The county originally made that determination then changed its mind and made the decision about the Bona Fide farm. Section 13.3: says the definition of agriculture which includes the raising and keep of general livestock but we know that dogs are not livestock. A kennel is a commercial operation that engages in the breeding of animals for sale, ifyouj just have a commercial operation that provides food, shelter and care of animals for non medical purposes then by definition that is al kennel. Then wel know thati ify youl have al kennel you have to have as special use permit to operate it. Turn to page 6, the animal control ordinances. What does the animal control ordinance of Stanly County say about licensing for Mr. Morton "Ify you have a dog that is older than 41 months old youl have to register it with the Stanly County tax office and get a tag. There are specific rules about the tag and how to apply it."  dogs?  Attorney Cornelius "How many dogs do you have?"  Mr. Morton "I have 3." Mr. Morton' "Yes, they are."  Attorney Cornelius "Are they licensed in complying with this?"  Attorney Cornelius "Do you have any knowledge if the Gibsons have acquired tags for their dogs or  not."  Mr. Morton "I have no knowledge oft that."  Attorney Cornelius "There are some exemptions for licensure but that is if you are an approved rescue or foster dog or if you are a dog owned by a government official. Page 27 shows article 8 of dangerous animals or potentially dangerous animals. It defines which are considered dangerous and what the requirements are if they bite someone. Onj page 28, section 2 talks ofexemption to this article would include herding dogs. So it is only in this article, it does nots say that iti is exempt from this entire ordinance. So that exemption would not apply to your dogs being licensed. Would you tell the board Mr. Morton "This is a letter from Rebecca Gibson, I did not get this letter but iti is to select members of  members what this document is on page 29?"  the street and our community. Someone provided me with a copy oft this letter."  Attorney Cornelius "What was this letter for?"  17    Mr. Morton "I understood this letter to be for ai response to the Planning Directors zoning design that was placed on the property. She sawi it fitt to send this letter out." This was before the hearing oft the Special Use Attorney Cornelius "So after the: zoning sign was placed on the property they saw fit to send out this  Permit.  letter before a decision had been made about as special use permit?"  Mr. Morton "Correct."  Mr Morton read a section of the letter:  Attorney Cornelius "Do you take this letter that she is saying that she is running a business from her  property that includes the operation ofal kennel?"  Mr. Morton "I do."  Attorney Cornelius Page 30, shows the document that is the assumed business name certificate that was recorded with the Stanly County Register ofI Deeds. It was recorded by Rebecca Gibson because she wanted to give notice that she was operating businesses under assumed names. You record this sO thati it is  ap public business sO others are aware. What are the two names that she recorded?" Mr. Morton "Fly Away Geese & Fly Away Farm and Kennel.  Attorney Cornelius' "So she is acknowledging that part of the business is a kennel. What is listed as the  address of this business?"  Mr. Morton "1101 Polk Ford Road, Stanfield, North Carolina 28163." Attorney Cornelius "And this is where the farm, the business and everything is?" Attorney Cornelius' "And what did shel list as the nature ofher business?"  Mr. Morton "Correct."  Mr. Morton' "Wildlife management." Mr. Morton "Correct."  Attorney Cornelius "So the business is not for farming, it is for Wildlife Management?"  Attorney Cornelius "Page 31, this is a copy ofas schedule F: from the year 2020. In the documentation Mr. Remsburg used hel had copies of2y years of schedule F's and the top sliver of the year before that. We only have thei front page of the documentation. This document on page 31 is the font and back page. On the back page on the bottom in the notes it talks about different types ofagriculture activities. It says do not report income from a list of things and one oft those is the breeding, care and raising of dogs, cats and other pets or animals instead file schedule C. The point is this form for farming profit loss it does not include dogs, anything with that you would file separately./ The IRS does not include dogs as part oft this  farm." Mr. Morton "Correct."  Attorney Cornelius "For the next several pages, what are these copies of?"  18    Mr. Morton "These are copies of! her business website."  Attorney Cornelius "This is thel FlyAway Geese business that we saw on the assumed name certificate that was filed at the Register of] Deeds. What services does the website say they provide?" Mr. Morton "Nuisance wildlife consultation, Border Collie sales & training, handler training and Attorney Cornelius "Page 35, it says looking for a certified goose dog. Does it say anywhere that they Mr. Morton' "Iti is for the general public, Iassume anyone who wants to lease a dog." Attorney Cornelius "Soi it does not matteri ifitis aj public entity or private entity?" Attorney Cornelius "The business itselfis a private entity, correct?"  certification, permitting and mass management of wildlife birds." exclusively do this for the public or public entities?"  Mr. Morton "No." Mr. Morton "Iti is."  Attorney Cornelius "Page 40, it lists some oft the plaçes that they provide the services to, one oft those  places is providence states, housing complexes, universities, correct?"  Mr. Morton "Correct."  Attorney Cornleius "Page 41 through 50, these are the minutes from the March 15th Board meeting where there was discussion regarding the Special Use Permit before that was continued and that may have already been a record before thel Board but we wanted to make sure that was ini there. Page 51 ist the Wake County case that was already talked about. Page 55 is a separate 2009 court case, Iv will talk about this case later and how it applies. That represents the documentation that we: intend to submit. Madam ChairI Madam Chair asked ifthere was any opposition to. submit the packet into evidence. There was none Attorney Cornelius "In your own words, will you just explain to the board what you are. asking them to do on this appeal of the Planning Directors decision and what we are trying to achieve here?" Mr. Morton "Iserved this country as al US Marine and served this nation and was then discharged honorary and then went to become a police officer and retired after thirty years of service. AllIwish fori is ap private quiet life with my wife on our property that I worked hard to achieve. I ask that this Board reverse the decision the Planning Director made so that myself, neighbors and the folks affected by the barking dogs and kennel will have a chance tol live inj peace. I ami not against business, Ia am against Attorney Cornelius "I don't have any further questions, is there anything else that you would like to Mr. Morton "Mrs. Gibson stood up here andj painted aj picture that is unfair towards my wife and] I. This did not stem from a fencei issue. The fencing came because their dogs were not being kept on their  would like to submit that packet ofi information to the board."  therefore it was. submitted.  barking dogs 24/7." share with the Board?"  19    property. Their dogs, livestock and animals all came to our property. We told them and asked them to stop. Wel helped them when they were out of town for 6-8 months at a time and before their help could get there and people would quit then they would call and ask if we could feed them. Ia am not going tol let an animal suffer. Ididi not give them any tips on how to further their business. Why would I? That would not be my place. To be fair, I did make an automatic watering system for my dogs for when I go on vacation andI I did say that I would show them how I did it because at the time their watering system was inoperable. As far as the money on the fencing, we were approached by the Gibsons if we could givel half oft the fencing because they bought that property and we said that was finei ift they wanted to. Ifit keeps their animals off of our property then lets make it happen. As far as tying in the fence line, weeks before that there was an issue ofmoney owed to my home, I asked if they would make good on the money owed andi ifi not then that's fine I would take it out oft the 1700. Mr. Gibson cussed: me and told me that he was taking it to court and Isaid that was fine. In never refused toj pay the money. Ij just asked that he made right with what he owed. Ididi not want the board to think Ia am unreasonable or someone that could not be approached. My wife did clean their home because that is the neighborly thing to do. Idor not make  assumptions on anyone until they prove they are unworthy ofr my friendship." Madam Chair asked ifthere were any questions for Mr Morton  Richard Cosgrove "You made some reference to a private road, is Polk Ford Road not a state maintained  Road?"  Mr. Morton "Iti is not, sir."  Richard Cosgrove "Down towards the creek is not maintained?" Mr. Morton "Not by the state sir, that is maintained by the homeowners."  Richard Cosgrove "Do you have a road maintenance agreement in the community where every year you  pay into ai fund and then you buy gravel?" Mr. Morton "That is true there is ai road covenant."  Richard Cosgrove "And do all the neighbors on that road contribute to it?" Richard Cosgrove "Do the Gibsons contribute to that road fund?" Richard Cosgrove "Who collects the road fund money?"  Mr. Morton "Not all ofthem."  Mr. Morton "I do not know to be honest."  Mr. Morton "We were asked to do sO by certain members of the community because it is easier to start at  the end and work our way up."  Richard Cosgrove "There is no court order that says you have to fund the private road?"  Mr. Morton "I don't understand your question sir."  Richard Cosgrove "Is there a court order or something that says you have to maintain that road or isi it  just a neighborhood thing?"  20    Mr. Morton "Tread in Stanly County that the maintenance of the road is that when it falls onto private Richard Cosgrove "I understand, the way: you spoke it sounded like you were denying the Gibsons the right to travel on that road to their property and other vehicles to their property." Mr. Morton "Inever denied anyone access, Id do not have the legal authority to do that."  individuals you have to maintain it for fire, EMS and those entities."  Richard Cosgrove "You spoke as ifit were sort of a negative thing that many people were driving down Mr. Morton' "A lot of vehicles travel on that road not to visit me or any other neighbors; it is directly to  the road."  the Gibson property. It does drastically erode the road."  Madam chair shared that was not really part of the determination, and to move, past it.  Madam chair asked ifany other parties had any other questions.  Attorney Furr "IfIcould direct your attention to page 2 of the packet,, ifyou could look at section 3 of the statute that says dairying, raising, care, and training of livestock, including horses, bees, poultry, and other animals for individual and public use and consumption, there is no comma after the words other  animals, correct? Mr. Morton "I do not see one."  Attorney Furr "So, if we were to number the items in the list here, number one would be livestock including horses, number two bees, number three poultry and number four other animals, correct?  Attorney Cornelius. shared he objected to the nature oft that question.  Board. Attorney. Mark Lowder shared that as a state statute it is for the board to determine what that  means.  Attorney Furr chose to withdraw that question.  Attorney Furr "Mr. Morton you would agree there is no comma after other animals in 106-851.1  correct?" Mr. Morton "Correct."  Attorney Furr "Page 29, this appears to be al letter from Rebecca Gibson. You stated that she provided this to the neighbors. Wasn't this letter in response to a letter that you had sent out to the neighbors?" Mr. Morton "Idid send out al letter, I do notl know ifity would be in response to this one." Attorney Furr approached Mr. Morton with the letter sent to Mr. Morton and his wife from February of 2022 from Bailey Emrich: regarding the Special Use Permit request and then the letter he sent to the  neighbors.  Attorney Furr "Was Mrs. Gibson's letter not a follow up to your letter?"  21    Mr. Morton "I can't speak to that, Ic do not know what she does with her letters."  Attorney Furr approached the board to give copies oft the letter and asked that it be entered into evidence. Attorney Furr "Page 6, the Stanly County Animal Control Ordinance. Are you aware that the ordinance  was amended November 2, 2020? Mr. Morton "I don't know."  Attorney Furr"Are: you aware of what entity enforces the county noise ordinance?"  Mr. Morton "I believe the Sheriff's Department."  Attorney Furr "Are you aware of who is currently enforcing the Stanly County. Animal Services  ordinance?" Mr. Morton "I do not know."  Attorney Furr "Page 30, the assumed business name certificate. Were you aware that Flyaway Farm and  thel Kennel portion oft the business was dissolved in 2012. Mr. Morton "I do not have knowledge of that, that is not my business."  Attorney Furr had noj further questions. was registered in April of2019, correct?" Mr. Morton' "Correct." Away Geese, correct?" Mr. Morton "Yes."  Attorney Cornelius "IfI could make one clarifying question on page. 30 the assumed names certificate  Attorney Cornelius "So as of April 1,2019 shei is doing business as Fly Away Farm & Kennel and Fly  Attorney Cornelius had noj further questions.  Madam Chair asked ifthere was any opposition to entering both letters into evidence. There was no Attorney Cornelius shared they had noj further witnesses but there were. neighbors who would like to be  opposition. heard.  Madam Chair asked Mr Cornelius to, go ahead and provide his summary.  Attorney Cornelius "Our argument is essentially that the Gibsons are using the guise ofa farm to operate acommercial business enterprise that is al kennel. They are: raising dogs which is a definition ofak kennel ini this statute. That does not mean aj puppy mill, they are training them and using them for a commercial business to make money: for all different kinds of people. Some are for public entities, some are for private entities, doesn't matter. It is aj private commercial business. They make money from it and they  22    pay taxes on it. That's what they are doing, that is what the evidence is. Mrs. Gibson's own testimony calls ital business and once in a while she will mention: it as ai farm but everything else is the word business. Thei farms are incidental to it. Thes statute talks ofhow al bona fide farm is a farm but it can have things incidental to it and they become part ofthe farm. That is the basis for Mr. Remburg' 's decision. However the evidence before you shows that is not what is going on. Iti is flipped. The business is thej primary thing and they use the farm stuff to support thel business. The sheep that make up thei farm are: not the purpose oft the property, thej purpose of thej property is to operate their fly away geese business and tol house all of these Border Collies. They use the sheep incidental to the business. Under the ordinances and the statutes that is running al business, thati is kennel. They would have to apply for a special use permit which this County told them they had to apply for and that was the original decision. The decision was changed to say that it was al bona fide farm. The statute says that the county: zoning regulations can't affect the bona fide farm purposes, however it does not apply to the use of farm properties for non-farm purposes. Mrs. Gibson talked about the fact that shel has all oft these dogs that she trains to use for the business but then says there are some just for the farm. The ones that are actually used for the farm probably do fit under the exemption but all the other dogs that are for the business are: for non-farm purposes and the statute that specifically says anything that is not used for thel bona fide farm purpose does noti fall under the exemption and is subject to the ordinance. So in order to do something with all oft those dogs, which is al kennel, under the ordinances you have tol have a special use permit to operate that. All the stuff that Mrs. Gibson talked about and all the documentation, it all has to do with the dogs and that ist thej primary use of the property. She uses the animals on the property to train them. They are saying that since iti is aj public use that it creates some sort of exception, no these dogs are not public dogs. They are owned by aj private business that contracts them toj public companies. Iti is no different than aj private construction company going and building a building for Stanly County. Iti is aj private company doing something for a private entity. Iti is not aj public use, a public use. is the fire department when they put out ai fire. These dogs are: not defined as aj public entity. These are not exceptions to the statute. Mr. Remsburg said they can have an unlimited amount of dogs on their property and as long as they are doing something with farming on there then they are allowed. Just because they send one dog to aj public park then it is aj public use sO that means they can keep 1000 dogs on thej property?. According to him there is no limit of number. Ifyou go through and read the statutes discussed, the other court of appeals case inl North Carolina on page 55, in 2009. This is a case where a farm was manufacturing biodiesel through the production of soybeans on a farm. We are talking about agriculture. This farm was producing biodiesel and the neighbors challenged it. What happened is this went to Superior Court and they found that thej production ofbiodiesel on the farm for agricultural purposes is al bona fide farm use and therefore it would be exempt from the county zoning ordinances. However, what happened is that on appeal the Court of Appeals said that actually the farm was producing 500,000 gallons ofbiodiesel fuel on their farm and then were selling excess amounts but they only need 100,000 gallons a year for their 5,000 acre: farm. They held that the farmers did not] have al bona fide: farm use and they said that thej production of 500,000 gallons per year when it requires only 100,000: removes this production from the realm from a bona fide farm use toa The court said that ifit is as secondary use and you are using it for your farm andi is what you need then yes iti is ai farm use. Whenever that farm is doing something way above what the ordinances say is ai farm  non-farm commercial enterprise. It became subject to zoning.  23    use then the court says no and it removes it from the realm ofbona fide farm use. That is exactly what we have here. They are operating a commercial kennel where they are training and raising Border Collies for profit. They should be subject to the relevant ordinances. They are using the bona fide farm thing to say they can do all these things with their business. Ifthey had 4 Border Collies on the farm which is what you actually need for 40 sheep, then yes that is a farm use. She testified that iti is not tol herd, the reason they have them is to train them up for the business, not for the farm. They use this farm to get out of having to comply with the ordinances. Even ifiti is al bona fide farm because they have some farm animals then the only way the dogs can be useful is ifit is dogs that are: needed for that farm. Ini the documentation from Mr. Remsburg al lot oft these readings say "a dog" you do not need 40 dogs on a farm. We feel that you should reverse that decision because Mr. Remsubrg did not have all the information ini front of! him to know what is really going on on this property and that they are notj just using it for the farm purposes, that is an incidental use toi it. The statute says that ifiti is an incidental use to the farm then it is a farm use and is ok. What we have is the farm use is incidental to thel business. That is the reason why we feel that you should: reverse this decision and they should have to comply with the ordinance like everyone else int the  county.  Madam Chair went through the list inviting the public to: speak when called upon. Madam chair reminded. the public the purpose oft the meeting is in reference to the letter of the  determinations which list the two determinations.  Amy Irish' "T was made aware by the sign that was posted. As I understand it, the sign came up and then the sign went down because of the reversal of Mr. Remsburg's decision, sO we planned on attending that meeting to learn more but we did not have the opportunity as the community to even learn more about it because it was approved. It think it should be reversed sO the community has a chance to speak.  There were no questions for this witness.  Beth Redmond "II knew nobody in here before now so this to me has nothing to do with the community. I back up to the property, the dogs are. loud.Idon't hear any farm animals, alll Ih hear are the dogs all the time. Iyell and tell them to hush and they will stop for a minute. They are definitely trained. This place was full at the last meeting sO there are al lot more people concerned besides these folks. Attorney Cornelius asked her to confirm where her property was in correlation toi the Gibson property. Darrell Kidd' "II live at 1127 Polk Ford Road so I am close. The road issue, I am not aware ofa any kind of formal agreement that requires it. For the most part the road maintenance crew is seated here. We in an informal way buy the gravel and get rakes and take it all into the potholes as a community. Anything that increases traffic will increase the amount of gravel wel buy. My understanding isi if wel bring the road up to state standards then the state will pave it for us. My understanding is that we are $100,000 away from that. We do our own road maintenance, the money that will bring us up to the paved road will do alot for our property value. Iv was in Mecklenburg county as a builder and when I decided to get out of there, I found 5 acres on Polk Ford Road of paradise. This is river front property, it is an undiscovered treasure. There is a magnificent residential opportunity int this area. It think it is an obligation to the people who live  there that we try to protect that and that it comes to its full potential."  24    Chair Fish asked ifplanning staff had any further comments.  Bailey. Emrich shared to keep in mind that the two determinations will be the only things considered. and  will be voted on separately.  Chair. Fish shared that after the hearing is closed noj further testimony is allowed. Chair Fish requested a 5 minute recess to go through acquired evidence.  Chair Fish closed the evidentiary hearing.  Chair Fish "The Board will now review the two determinations made int the Letter of Determination. The Board of Adjustment may reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify the decision appealed from and shall make any order, requirement, decision, or determination that ought to be made. The board has Determination #1 - Thej property located at 1101 Polk] Ford Road. Stanfield. NC 28163 is al bona fide Chair Fish "Do Ihave a motion to find this determination true based on the evidence submitted?"  all oft thej powers oft the official who made the decision."  farm per NC 160D-903(a)3). The Board finds this standard true. Motion:Michael Efird Second:Michael Fleming Vote:6-0  Michael Fleming "The simple fact that the Gibsons submitted a schedule F which is one of the four Determination #2 - The border collies on the property are ai farm use per NCGS 106-581.1 Chair Fish "Do Ihave a motion to find this determination true based on the evidence presented?"  criteria to meet in order to be considered al Bona fide farm is enough."  The Board finds this fact true. Motion: Rick Johnson Second:Michael Efird Vote:5-1  Rick Johnson "We have al lot of evidence to prove that the Border Collies are aj part oft the farm." Michael Fleming "Farming includes public use. Either on the farm or public use. Ifeel that thej public use has a wide definition. Ilive on Lake' Tillery and if wel had a downpour and the geese dropped a pound and al half and it went into Lake Tillery then that is al hazard to public safety. The farmer is training the dog and even though the farmer may be aj private entity the dog is being used for the public." Chair Fish"Those with standing in the matter have thirty days to appeal this to the Stanly County  Superior Court."  25    Adjournment Motion by:Richard Cosgrove Second by:Michael Fleming Vote:6-0 Time:9:20PM  Gmh Chair, Cindy  Fish  4calig  - -  &dha Barale  Clerk, Bailey Emrich  26