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November 22, 2005

Noble plans new animal control ordinances, mobile home restrictions

New ordinance will address dog weights, fees, requirements

By Melissa A. Wabnitz

Transcript Staff Writer

NOBLE -- Dogs and mobile homes were the subjects of much discussion Monday night at the regular Noble City Council meeting.

Councilmembers, looking toward Bartlesville, tossed around ideas in an attempt to address what some have labeled "a growing problem."

Mayor Richard Brindley said residents continue to contact him about the dangers of roaming dogs, including a Rottweiler which attempted to attack a small boy recently.

"It took two officers and an animal control officer to corral this animal," said City Manager Bob Wade. "Everyone is aware we're considering how we should license and approve large-breed dogs like pit bulls. But we've learned we can't just target certain breeds."

Bartlesville, said city lawyer David Perryman, has formulated and enacted laws adding more stringent requirements for dogs including designating an animal as "dangerous" and "potentially dangerous." Those designations require the animal's owners to pay additional registration fees, identify the animal as dangerous or potentially dangerous by the display of signs and a florescent collar and additional security measures.

According to the Bartlesville requirements, if deemed "potentially dangerous," an outside dog must have a 150-square-foot pen with a secure top and sides or be leashed on a six-foot link chain and be muzzled or securely locked in a cage strong enough to control the dog.

Perryman suggested dog owners also be required to obtain and show proof of $50,000 in liability insurance. Owner consequences could range from monetary fines to destroying or banning animals from the city, Perryman said.

"We're kind of treating the animal as a sex offender once the animal has demonstrated a propensity," he said. "The only thing missing is due process."

The City of Noble does not have an animal control officer currently but is in the process of hiring one, said Police Chief Ben Daves.

"Truthfully, as the city grows, the animal control situation has become more and more of a need," Wade said.

Councilmembers voted to direct Perryman to pen a number of codes for review and vote in future city council meetings. The codes will be weight-specific, not breed-specific, he said.

Earlier this year, councilmembers voted to re-define "vicious" dogs as an animal that not only attacks other people, but other animals.

"These (new) codes will be a progression of what we've already been working on," Brindley said.

Also Monday, councilmembers voted to approve a planning commission recommendation to enlarge a zoning ordinance to restrict mobile homes in an agricultural zoning district to 10 acres minimum. Currently, the law allows provides that mobile homes on agriculturally-zoned land must have a minimum of 21?2 acres.

The reason for increasing the minimum land requirement, said Wade, is to restrict the ability of developers to "buy up large tracts of agricultural land and plat them out to be full of mobile homes."

Other distinctions for mobile home developments and dedicated areas within city limits are already a part of Noble codes, Wade said, and spot re-zones are possible if mobile home owners seek property that may not currently provide for such dwellings.

Mobile homes that are currently located on less than 10 acres of agriculturally-zoned land will be grandfathered in, officials said.

Melissa A. Wabnitz 366-3550 mwabnitz@normantranscript.com

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