Mediated deal ends long-running chicken farm dispute
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Kathy Rubalcaba's home left and fenced-in chicken yard are show at her East Barre neighborhood. STEFAN HARD/TIMES ARGUS |
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By David Delcore TIMES ARGUS STAFF - Published: October 28, 2009
BARRE TOWN – Kathy Rubalcaba's three roosters – Rudy, Orvis and Ike – are strutting a little easier today after their owner was finally able to settle her differences with town officials who recently ruled she could keep only one of them.
The town changed its tune during a court-ordered mediation session Tuesday, paving the way for a "global settlement" of a neighborhood dispute that has dragged on for nearly a year, boiled over in early September, and prompted the embattled owner of Layed In Vermont to file a lawsuit earlier this month.
According to the settlement that was unanimously ratified by the town's selectboard Tuesday night, Rubalcaba has agreed to drop the lawsuit and the town has agreed to dismiss the mounting pile of tickets – some dating back to April – that it issued under its local animal nuisance control ordinance.
What's more, the town has agreed to allow Rubalcaba to keep three adult roosters – one for each of the rare breeds she's been raising at her East Barre home for more than a year.
That's good news for Rudy (a Black Copper Marans), Orvis (a Welsummer) and Ike (a Wheaton Marans), all of whom will be allowed to stay in separate coops outside Rubalcaba's Church Street home.
"They're permanent tenants here I guess," Rubalcaba said of her roosters moments after learning that the selectboard ratified a four-page settlement agreement that was the product of a day-long mediation session led by retired Rutland judge Richard Norton.
Of course there are conditions, but Rubalcaba said she can live with them because, for the most part, she already was.
"I really don't have to change anything based on what transpired today," she said.
The agreement requires Rubalcaba to bring her roosters in at night – something she said she already does now. It also outlines steps she must take to prevent light from getting into her roosters' cages and sound from getting out.
"That's not a problem," she said.
The settlement creates a hard cap of three adult roosters for the chicken and egg operation Rubalcaba started on her quarter-acre lot. That's two more than the selectboard ordered last month, but approximately three dozen less than Rubalcaba had before having most of them slaughtered earlier this month after many contentious weeks with irate neighbors.
Rubalcaba has characterized the large number of roosters as a one-time quirk associated with a winnowing down process that resulted in her selection of Rudy as the best of her Black Copper Marans. Unfortunately, she said that process took time and resulted in her raising far more roosters than she ever planned to keep.
"I was freaking out when I had that many," she said.
So were many of Rubalcaba's nearest neighbors, who complained about what they claimed was the roosters constant crowing, prompting the town to issue tickets, and Rubalcaba to file appeals and ultimately the soon-to-be-dismissed lawsuit.
Although she was skeptical heading in, Rubalcaba credited Norton for nudging the two sides toward a mutually acceptable settlement.
"He (Norton) was great," she said. "I knew from very soon on it (mediation) was going to produce a result."
The day-long session started with a 9 a.m. site visit at Rubalcaba's home before shifting to Town Attorney Michael Monte's office in Barre.
Monte, Town Manager Carl Rogers represented the town and Rubalcaba brought her lawyer, Daniel Richardson.
According to Rubalcaba, Norton spent much of the day shuttling language back and forth between the two sides narrowing the areas of disagreement and eventually producing a document both sides agreed to sign shortly before 5 p.m.
Monte said the town was satisfied with the agreement, which it believed protected the interests of the neighbors and set reasonable limitations on Rubalcaba.
"She (Rubalcaba) will take steps that everyone is hopeful will prevent the nuisance from occurring," he said. The settlement also creates a framework for handling future chicken-related complaints, he said.
Essentially, Monte said the town will contact Rubalcaba if it receives a complaint, giving her the opportunity to respond or correct it before pursuing any enforcement action.
"Basically, she (Rubalcaba) gets a warning," he said.
Rubalcaba said the town could have avoided a lot of aggravation if it had done that in the first place.
"If there is a complaint let me know like you should have done from the beginning," she said.
Other conditions of the agreement require Rubalcaba to continue her practice of clipping the wings of her chickens and limiting her to three coops – none of which can be bigger than the one that is currently her largest.
The agreement also requires Rubalcaba to "continue to act as a reasonable chicken farmer" and remain in compliance with the state Agency of Agriculture's regulations.
The selectboard unanimously ratified the agreement after discussing it with Monte during an executive session that lasted more than an hour.
david.delcore@timesargus.com