I attended the Mapleton City Council meeting last night, as they decided if they would grant the Sutherlands a conditional use permit. This permit would allow them to raise and sell snakes and rodents on thier property.

Well, the meeting didn't go too well. A final decision whether to grant the conditional use permit has not been made yet. The city council decided to postpone it until they could determine the effects on property value in the surrounding area. The big hit came when they decided that according to the city code (which is unclear at best with reptiles and rodents), the Sutherlands are allowed 212 snakes and/or rodents on thier property, not including unweaned rodents or snakes under 6 months old. This is because they are allowed 5.9 animal units/acre, and the city council decided that reptiles and rodents fall into the "small animals such as rabbits" category. The code says that 36 "small animals" is equal to one animal unit, hence the number 212. Even if they are granted thier permit, this decision effectively shuts down thier operation. Dan and Colette were very professional during the 4 hour process (especially for having to stand up the entire time due to lack of room; I think every single resident of Mapleton was there), but I could tell they were pretty fed-up with the reasoning behind the decisions toward the end of the meeting. Most of the citizens were relatively well behaved, but there were a few that had outbursts more than once. I am still hoping they can work things out with the city in a way that they can run thier business in Mapleton, but it is not looking promising. I'm not sure what they plan on doing from here, but please keep your thoughts and prayers with them and thier family.

-Evan