[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Health of the Town of Sterling 6-1-1982, as amended effective 1-1-1991. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
Acting under the authority of MGL c. 111, § 31, the Sterling Board of Health has adopted the following stable regulations to become effective 1-1-1991 thereby amending regulations originally adopted 6-1-1982.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ANIMALS
Horses, ponies, mules, horses one year or older.
CORRAL
An enclosure for horses.
PADDOCK
A small enclosed field near a stable.
PRIVATE STABLE
A stable in which the horses are used by their individual owners.
PUBLIC STABLE
A stable to which the public has access for riding horses, riding lessons, viewing equestrian events, etc.
STABLE
A building for horses.
A. 
Stables shall be located not less than 100 feet from any building or structure used for human habitation, or any church, school, public building, hospital, nursing home or rest home. A dwelling on the same parcel of land as the stable shall be exempt from this provision.
B. 
Stables shall be located not less than 50 feet from any adjoining property or lot lines or the line of any public street or way.
C. 
Stables shall be located not less than 100 feet from any brook, stream, river, pond, or drainage easement and not less the 400 feet from any public water supply or tributary to a public water supply.
All building construction shall be in conformance with local building and fire prevention bylaws.
Surface water runoff from stables and paddocks shall not constitute a nuisance or health menace.
Public stables shall be provided with two or more toilet rooms, including hand-washing facilities, for male and female employees and customers, and shall include a sanitary sewage disposal system approved by the Board of Health.
Stables shall not be used for human habitation.
A drinking water facility shall be provided for the animals. Public stables shall be provided with a sufficient number of hose bib outlets for regular washing down of the stable.
A. 
Corrals and paddocks shall be sloped to minimize standing water.
B. 
Corrals and paddocks for animals shall be located not less than 100 feet from any brook, stream, river, pond or surface drainage easement, and not less than 400 feet from any public water supply or tributary to a public water supply.
C. 
Corrals and paddocks shall be properly fenced to ensure the safety of the animals and minimize escapes.
All grain feeds shall be stored in a manner protecting it from access by rodents.
Whenever necessary, openings to the outside air shall be screened, and approved insecticides shall be applied to walls, ceilings, and the exterior of stable buildings.
Manure shall be stored in such a manner and location that there can be no drainage or runoff into any pond, waterway, or drainage easement. No more than one cord (four feet by four feet by eight feet) of manure shall be accumulated at any stable if such accumulation results in a public health problem or a public nuisance. Public stables shall store manure in watertight pits unless it is removed daily, and shall remove it once every 10 days from April 1 to November 1.
All animals shall be kept in a building or enclosure of adequate size and shall not be permitted to be at large.
Stables shall hold a yearly license from the Board of Health (MGL c. 111, § 155) at an annual fee established by the Board of Health and issued following an inspection and approval of the facilities by the Board of Health.
A. 
No horse shall be maintained on any lot of less than 40,000 square feet.
B. 
There may be no more than two horses on a forty-thousand-square-foot lot.
C. 
Each additional horse maintained on the same premises shall require no less than 20,000 square feet of land except by a special permit of the Board of Health.
Following notice of violation of any of the preceding regulations and a reasonable time for correction, the owner or agent responsible for such violation may be subject to a fine of $50 per day for each day that said violation exists (MGL c. 111, § 157) and to revocation of his license.
A. 
The Board of Health may vary any provision of these regulations with respect to any particular case when in its opinion:
(1) 
The enforcement thereof would do manifest injustice; and
(2) 
The applicant has proved that the same degree of protection can be achieved without strict application of the particular provisions.
B. 
All variance requests shall be submitted to the Sterling Board of Health in writing and shall be considered and approved or disapproved by said Board of Health.
If any section or sentence, clause or phrase hereof shall be held invalid for any reason, the remainder of that section and all other sections shall continue in force.