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[RC] Fw: What will they think of next - Jeannie Gillen----- Original Message ----- From: "Elin Motherhead" <doublemelin@xxxxxxxxxxx> To: "Ginger VonAchen" <GVonAchen@xxxxxxxxx>; "Dan and Cheryl Searer" <DLSearer@xxxxxx>; "Jeannie Gillen" <Jeanniegillen@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>; "Dave Drefchinski" <davesbarn@xxxxxxxxx> Sent: Wednesday, January 07, 2004 1:26 AM Subject: What will they think of next POOP SCOOPING MANURE - "hay goes in - hay goes out"I'm passing this on: Dear Horse Lovers, Any horse owner or enthusiast would be aghast to learn about the current movement against equestrians in Newport Beach, CA. The enforcement of an ordinance requiring horse riders to PICK UP AFTER THEIR HORSES on the trail illustrates the ignorance of non-equestrians towards the animals that we love (See the article below). This sounds like a joke, but it isn't. In crowded Southern California, the rights of horse owners are quickly being eroded. We are constantly fighting to ensure that our trails are not demolished for golf courses, that our horse properties are not rezoned to bar horses, and NOW THIS!!!! HELP STOP THE MADNESS! PLEASE SEND THIS TO THE HORSE LOVERS YOU KNOW AND URGE THEM TO CONTACT THE CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH. CITY MANAGER HOMER BLUDAU EMAIL: hbludau@xxxx PHONE: 949-644-3000 ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER DAVID KIFF PHONE: 949-644-3002 LOS ANGELES TIMES ARTICLE, JANUARY 2, 2004 Cleanup Rule Is a Bur Under Their Saddle Enforcing Newport Beach's scooper law pits residents, who recoil at the mess, against equestrians, who deny the manure is a hazard. By David Haldane, Times Staff Writer, Los Angeles Times, January 2, 2004 Santa Ana Heights is a horse lover's dream. Several miles of bridle trails meander through idyllic terrain. Most of the houses sit on lots large enough to accommodate animals and corrals. Recently, however, the dream has been marred by an argument over biological realities. New signs posted on the trails warn of $100 to $500 fines for owners whose horses leave a mess. And, adding insult to injury, several houses along sidewalks and trails now sport shovels with cans. "It's just a good-neighbor issue," says Barbara Venezia, a non-equestrian resident of one of those houses and organizer of what she calls the "adopt-a-poop-can" campaign. "The bottom line is: If you've got an animal, take care of it." Local equestrians say they certainly don't mind taking care of their animals. But some are incensed by a municipal ordinance that treats them exactly as it does dog owners who don't clean up after their pets on the street. And in what may be the first case of its kind anywhere, horse people say they plan to show up en masse at a city hearing later this month to protest the law. "We're challenging not only the enforcement of the code, but the code itself," said Tom Anderson, president of the Orange County Equestrian Coalition, which recently paid the fine of a woman cited for allegedly leaving her horse's manure on a sidewalk. "We've always believed this to be a nonissue. It shows a complete lack of understanding by urban people about what it means to have a horse as a pet." Countered David Kiff, an assistant city manager in charge of enforcing the ordinance: "I can't just look the other way with horses." The conflict has recent roots. For years, East Santa Ana Heights - a 194-acre area made up of about 400 homes just northeast of Newport Beach - was an unincorporated Orange County island zoned for equestrian use. Last July, in keeping with the county's efforts to rid itself of unincorporated areas, it was annexed by Newport Beach. As a result, according to Kiff, "the community is subject to all of our ordinances," including the one requiring pet owners to clean up after their pets. Though the law is aimed primarily at dog owners, he says, "it would apply to any animal, including a horse." The city posted the "no manure" signs almost immediately. Then it shelled out $89 for Venezia's cans. But things really heated up a few weeks ago when Cheryl Skidmore, a horse owner who lives in Costa Mesa but frequently rides in Santa Ana Heights, was cited and fined for allegedly leaving a mess. "I did clean it up," she said later, "but [the officer] said it wasn't cleaned up to his satisfaction." City officials argue that the horse manure is an environmental hazard that can seep into storm drains, ending up in Newport Bay. "There are certain parts of the bay and many tributaries that are way above state standards" for fecal bacteria, Kiff said. The city, he said, is under court order to keep those levels low. Equestrians, on the other hand, maintain that because horses are herbivores, their waste is benign. "Hay goes in, hay comes out," says Jayne Jones, a member of Back Bay Equestrians, a local riding group. "You can use horse manure for compost - a lot of people put it in their gardens. It's practically the same stuff you can buy at Home Depot - it's actually good for the environment." Besides, they argue, cleaning up horse droppings can be dangerous for riders. "There's a considerable difference," Anderson said, "between picking up your dog's droppings in a plastic bag and getting off a thousand-pound animal, scooping up the droppings, putting them in a bag and remounting on the trail. That's a serious public safety issue." The two sides may collide during the Jan. 20 hearing at City Hall to consider Skidmore's appeal of her fine. "We're going to make this a test case," Anderson said. "If the city wants to make it an issue, we'll go to the wall on it." ONCE AGAIN, PLEASE LET THE CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH KNOW HOW RIDICULOUS THEIR LAW IS!!!!! TODAY IT IS A CITY IN SO. CALIFORNIA - TOMORROW IT MAY BE YOUR CITY!!!! CITY MANAGER HOMER BLUDAU EMAIL: hbludau@xxxx PHONE: 949-644-3000 ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER DAVID KIFF PHONE: 949-644-3002 Here is a letter written to Newport Beach by one of my friends in Bonsall to the council. I cannot believe you are going to make horse-riders dismount from their horses, to pick up manure while they are riding the Back Bay Trails. Since Back Bay is a sanctuary, or was, when we lived nearby to there, natural horse excrement should actually be of benefit to the soil. As was reported in the L.A. Times, horses do not eat any kind of meat...... only hay, grass & nutrients ......therefore the manure which they produce is not offensive in odor..... I do not see what it is that is bugging the non-equestrian homeowners, as they must have known when they moved there, that there were going to be horses using the trails, and possible manure as a result. Horses do not often poop when they are ridden - they mostly do this when they get a sudden fright, or if "it is time", but most horses refrain from doing this away from their homes, so there must be very little manure of which to speak. This seems to me to be a totally frivolous subject, and I think that anyone who is objecting to the equestrian riders and their steeds' normal gastro-intestinal functions, is in need of some psychiatric therapy, or a hard-working job, as they obviously have too much time on their hands to let others enjoy life. Fiona Kennelly Visit the Corral 20 web site: http://corral20.kc6hur.net Visit the ETI Natioanl web site: http://www.eti.av.org ite: http://corral20.kc6hur.net Visit the ETI Natioanl web site: http://www.eti.av.org =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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