[Adopted 1-21-2000 by Ord. No. 340 (Ch.
106, Art. VI, of the 1992 Code)]
The Town Council has found and determined that
the keeping of wild, exotic and/or farm animals (including bees) within
the Town of Bethany Beach is detrimental to the public health, safety
and welfare of the citizens and property owners of the Town of Bethany
Beach and constitutes a public nuisance because such animals are not
suited to the close residential confines of the Town and are likely
to:
A.
Cause undesirable odors on abutting and nearby properties
and public ways.
B.
Contaminate such properties and nearby properties
and public ways with urine and/or excrement.
C.
Cause unreasonable noise and disturbances to abutting
and nearby properties and public ways.
D.
Create a significant roadway hazard and/or damage
to or destruction of landscaping and vegetation or if unrestrained
or allowed to escape any restraint.
E.
Require the assistance, at the Town's expense, of
police and/or animal control officers, to recapture such animals if
unrestrained or allowed to escape.
F.
Cause an increased and unreasonable risk to the public
health and safety by running amok and/or attacking persons and/or
other domestic animals if unrestrained or allowed to escape.
G.
Cause an increased and unreasonable risk of spreading
infectious diseases and/or creating unhealthy conditions.
H.
Receive inappropriate or inhumane care due to the
unsuitable environment that the close residential confines of the
Town create for such animals.
It is therefore declared to be the purpose of
and intent of this article to promote the public health, safety and
general welfare of the citizens of the Town of Bethany Beach and to
ensure the humane treatment of animals by prohibiting the keeping
of wild, exotic and/or farm animals, as herein defined, within the
Town of Bethany Beach.
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Any live monkey, alligator, crocodile, cayman, raccoon, skunk,
fox, bear, sea mammal, potentially dangerous snake, member of the
feline species other than domestic cat (felis domesticus), member
of the canine species other than domestic dog (canis familiaris) or
any other animal that would require a standard of care and control
greater than that required for customary household pets sold by commercial
pet shops.
Any cow, horse, mule, donkey, sheep, goat, swine, fowl, duck,
goose or turkey; and bees.
Any live monkey, nonhuman primate, raccoon, skunk, fox, leopard,
panther, tiger, lion, lynx or any other warm-blooded animal that can
normally be found in the wild state. The term "wild animal" does not
include domestic dogs (excluding hybrids with wolves, coyotes or jackals),
domestic cats (excluding hybrids with ocelots or margays), farm animals,
rodents indigenous to the United States, any hybrid animal that is
part wild and captive-bred species of common cage birds.
Except with the prior written approval of the Town's review panel as hereafter provided in § 240-28, it shall be a violation of this article for any person to maintain, keep, possess or permit at large, any exotic, wild and/or farm animal (including bees) in the Town of Bethany Beach.
A.
Any person may apply, in writing, to the Town Manager
for permission to keep an animal otherwise prohibited by this article
in the Town.
B.
Upon receipt of such application, the Town Manager
shall convene a review panel, on an ad hoc basis, consisting of the
Town Manager (or a designee from within the Town Manager's office),
the Chief of Police (or the Chief's designee from within the Police
Department) and one private citizen permanently residing within the
Town, to hear and decide the request for exemption from this article.
C.
The Town Manager shall schedule a public hearing to
be held not less than three days after receipt of the request and
shall provide notice of the date, time, place and purpose of such
hearing by posting in five public places in the Town (as well as on
the subject property) and by delivery by hand or United States mail
to the residents or property owners of lands abutting the subject
property. Where time permits, such notice shall also be published
in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town.
D.
At such hearing, the burden shall be upon the applicant
to establish to the satisfaction of a majority of the panel that the
animal does not and will not constitute a nuisance or a threat to
the public health, safety or welfare of the Town. Strict rules of
evidence shall not apply at such hearing, but the panel may accept
any relevant evidence of probative value which reasonable persons
might consider in making important decisions in their own private
affairs.
E.
The panel shall issue a brief written decision within
two days of the hearing, which decision may grant, deny or grant with
specified conditions permission to keep such animal.
F.
The decision of the panel shall be final. Any person thereafter keeping an animal in violation of the panel's decision, or in violation of any conditions imposed by the panel, may be prosecuted for a violation of this article under § 240-27 above.
G.
Anything in this article to the contrary notwithstanding,
any permission granted under this section may be subsequently revoked
or modified by a subsequent panel called by the Town Manager upon
a showing that such animal did constitute a nuisance or threat to
the public health, safety or welfare or that the conditions of such
permission were violated.
