Homestead
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A Thomaston family will be able to keep alpacas near the center of town after collecting signatures to call a vote that changed zoning in their residential area.
The town’s Planning Board granted a conditional use permit on Tuesday to Jillian Finnegan, who wanted to start a 4-5 animal alpaca farm with her family at their home on Beechwood Street. The area is zoned as urban residential, and town ordinances had previously restricted residents from keeping large animals.
Zoning that limits animal ownership can be a major roadblock for people wanting to homestead or farm in more developed areas of Maine. The subject has sometimes sparked heated discussions about whether the state’s landmark food sovereignty laws should allow them to raise animals even if local ordinances prohibit it, conversations that have commonly centered on backyard chickens.
Finnegan, who declined to be interviewed, found a way to make her farm possible by collecting petition signatures to get a change to the land use ordinance on the annual town meeting warrant in June. Residents approved it with unanimous support from the Planning and Select boards.
She said at the meeting Tuesday that the family plans to bring five alpacas home this summer, begin donating compost and offer free field trips to the local school. In a year, they’ll consider adding paid educational tours to the public, she said.
The ordinance change making this possible allows people to keep alpacas on urban residential property under certain conditions if the Planning Board approves their application.
“I believe that if someone has the means to keep an animal safe, happy and healthy, then they should have the right to do so,” William Eustis, who was then a member of the Planning Board and now sits on the town’s Select Board, wrote in meeting materials earlier this year.
Realistically, that won’t always be possible, he said, but he saw no reason not to add alpacas to the ordinance as long as restrictions were included to ensure their wellbeing. Finnegan said the animals are typically quiet, only making a low humming sound unless they’re startled by a predator.
To be approved, applicants have to keep at least three alpacas of the same sex, at a maximum density of six alpacas per acre. They must provide separate barns and pens for males and females that don’t house other livestock, with shelter space of at least 8 square feet per animal. Alpacas have to be kept in an area enclosed by 6-foot fencing.
Feed and hay also must be stored properly, with manure and waste removed in a timely manner.
The Planning Board approved Finnegan’s application Tuesday and wished her well after a brief review. No members of the public commented at the meeting.