By David Skolnick

skolnick@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

The planning commission refused to grant permits to three East Side residents who have nondomesticated animals – chickens, ducks, French guineas and goats – on their properties.

The city’s zoning department was to send letters today to the three giving them 10 days to have the animals removed from their properties.

If they don’t comply, they will be fined $100, said Bill D’Avignon, the city’s Community Development Agency director. After 20 days of noncompliance, a $500 fine is assessed, and a $1,000 fine is imposed after 30 days, he said.

The city could choose to forcibly remove the animals if needed, said Law Director Martin Hume. The commission voted Tuesday to deny the permits for the three residents.

None of the property owners attended the meeting.

They are Esteban Melendez of McGuffey Road, who has chickens, ducks and French guineas [a type of fowl]; Bokros Morgan of North Gray Avenue, who has chickens and goats; and Michelle Dial of McCartney Road, who has a goat.

None could be reached Tuesday by The Vindicator to comment.

The three received letters from the health commissioner in the last month that they were in violation of city codes on housing the animals.

While the animal owners weren’t at Tuesday’s meeting, several neighbors and two city council members, who object to having the animals at residential properties, attended.

“It sounds like the Canfield Fair at my house,” said Ron Martin, a resident of Bennington Avenue, near Melendez’s home. “There are chickens, rooster and ducks running all over the place.”

Jackie Adair of Kenneth Street, who also lives near Melendez, said, “There seems to be a proliferation of chickens and other fowl in the city. This is not allowed according to our zoning code.” She added: “We are city residents. We’ve long since passed the time of agriculture. I didn’t move to the East Side to live near a farm.”

City council must approve most planning commission recommendations. But Hume said the animal owners weren’t authorized to have the creatures on their properties and weren’t given variances so council action isn’t needed.

Councilwoman Annie Gillam, D-1st, said, “We’re not supposed to have farm animals. We’re creating a horrendous problem. It is not the country.”

Also, the board of zoning appeals – which consists of the same members of the planning commission – denied a request from Victor DiVito to continue using the former Woodside Receiving Hospital property on East Indianola Avenue on the South Side as a lumber yard for his nearby tree-service business.

The property was largely demolished in 2014, but construction debris and a smokestack remain.

The board also rejected a request to turn the former Party Pantry at Glenwood Avenue and Canfield Road into a gas station. Board members said the property is too small for a gas station.