Councilman continues effort to make pigs legal
St. Charles board to hear new bill next week
A St. Charles city councilman has introduced a new bill that would overturn a citywide ban on pet potbellied pigs and require owners to register and vaccinate their pet pigs.
The bill stems from an ongoing debate over a local family's attempts to keep its pet potbellied pig. Current law prohibits the animals from homes within city limits.Councilman Erv Ermeling, Ward 10, has supported Christopher and Christina Jones as they have tried to keep their 85-pound potbellied pig, Sarah, whom they purchased before checking city codes.
Ermeling's first bill to legalize citywide ownership failed. This bill differs because it would subject the pets to the same regulations now applied to dogs and cats.
Ermeling said he hoped the new bill would convince at least one of the five council members who voted against the first bill to change his or her mind. The new bill needs at least six votes to pass and will be up for a vote Sept. 16.
But Warren and Dorothy Korth, the Jones' neighbors who initially complained to the city about Sarah, urged the council members on Tuesday to vote the new bill down.
"If pigs are allowed in the city, will our property taxes go down along with the decline in the value of our homes?" said Dorothy Korth. "Not everybody likes a pig 25 feet from their kitchen window."
The council also introduced a bill that would limit the length of time homeowners could park portable storage containers in their driveway to 60 days, or 90 days in emergencies. The bill's sponsor, Council President Jerry Reese, said he proposed the bill as a response to complaints from residents about people keeping large storage containers in their driveways for long periods of time.
