DOWAGIAC — Potbellied pigs will not be allowed in the city of Dowagiac anytime soon, after the city council unanimously voted to affirm current zoning laws following a citizen request to have them changed.

The Dowagiac City Council unanimously voted to affirm Zoning Code Section 2.18 — “Keeping of the Animals” — after receiving a recommendation from the planning commission.

City Manager Kevin Anderson said the commission looked at the ordinance and believe it is appropriate as is.

“This has been a longstanding ordinance, and it has seemed to have been effective overall for helping to deal with animals in smaller lots when they become nuisances in neighborhoods,” Anderson said.

The current zoning code states household pets include dogs, cats, fish, birds, hamsters and other animals generally regarded as household pets.

The second section states animals that are not considered household pets include, but are not limited, to wild animals, horses, pigs, sheep, cattle and poultry. These animals are prohibited in all zoning districts.

The city also allows for no more than two domestic pets per household.

Councilmember Patrick Bakeman showed support for the planning commission’s recommendation in deciding to not allow pigs as pets, citing his own personal experience growing up across from pigs and next to horses.

“It’s not about how you take care of your pets. … Living in the city limits, I know that there is an expectation that those don’t exist,” Bakeman said. 

During discussions with constituents, Bakeman said he heard people say if pigs were allowed in the city limits, then someone would want goats and so forth.

“When would it end?” Bakeman rhetorically asked.

Echoing Bakeman’s testaments, councilmember Randy Gross agreed with the planning commission’s recommendation.

“I think the individual that had the issue with the pigs, I’m sure, does a fabulous job of taking care of their yard and all of those things,” Gross said. “Overall, you can’t police what else would come if you open up that avenue for the whole city. It would open up a lot of other things that I’m sure a lot of other people would not be happy about as we move forward.”

Anderson said only on a complaint basis does the city look at the number of pets at a residence.

“The Keeping of Animals” ordinance provides the city with a tool if the number of pets becomes impactful on a neighborhood. The city never has actively gone looking at how many pets are at a residence and never will, Anderson added.

Master plan approval

Also on Monday, the city council unanimously adopted the City of Dowagiac 2019-2029 Master Plan Update.

Resident Diane Barret-Curtis addressed the city council and encouraged transparency in providing and producing documents, such as the master plan update, to the public.

Curtis said she has written to her councilmembers in the past and what she would like to see in the city.

“We have some lovely green spaces available, and I do think that those could be developed,” she said. “I don’t see that addressed very much. I did see it addressed in one of your strategies.”

She said the planning commission and city council should explore more opportunities with green space development around the city.

Anderson said the planning commission spent a lot of time on the front end discussing thoughts before public hearings were hosted. The commission reshaped the master plan update dramatically and reshaped some of the proposals. During the time that public hearings were hosted, comments from those meetings were incorporated into the master plan update.

What comes next for the planning commission is to start making the master plan updates a reality.

“Often times these things can take a year to 18 months or more to put in place,” Anderson said. “I think everybody is quite diligent to try to really work through this.”

During city councilmember remarks, Leon Layin said the planning procedure is an ongoing and ever-changing situation.

“Every park to our green space is pretty much financially dictated in what we can and can’t do,” He said.

Laylin said how small changes are adding up in the city.

“Small things that are done come to the surface and it affects the people in the city,” he said. “They take pride in it and that very fruition into other things that we look forward to in Dowagiac. … I’m really looking forward to what the city has before them. I know our plate is full, but I think we are on the right road.”