Lyon County commission denies permit for exotic animal preservation center in Mason Valley
Submitted by Jeff Munson on Tue, 04/09/2019 - 12:53pm
YERINGTON — The Lyon County Planning Commission on Tuesday unanimously rejected a use permit proposal for an exotic animal rescue facility in the Mason Valley area after it had learned of litigation underway from the non-profit organization's current facility in Oregon.
The Conditional Use Request would establish a rescue facility with the primary focus on large cats such as lions, tigers, leopards; hybrids such as yligers, liligers; small wild cats such as lynx, caracals, Geffroy’s cats, servals, etc., and other assorted exotic animals examples would include wolves, wallaroos and lemurs.
The Planning Commission voted 7-0 to deny the application. The Board of County Commissioners should hear the application on May 2, 2019.
While the main mission is to rescue and rehabilitate exotic animals, they plan to also provide rescue and rehabilitation of indigenous species as well, said Lyon County manager Jeff Page.
The applicants manage a 501(C)(3) non-profit organization currently licensed by the US Department of Agriculture to operate and maintain such a facility and have 35 years of experience in operating an animal rescue facility for such animals.
But they are seeking to relocate in a less congested area in Nevada. The application materials indicate that their operation has an unblemished record of care and maintenance of animals, no employees injured, and no animal escapes.
Community Development staff initially recommended approval for the facility until it was discovered that the applicants are involved in litigation with their current facility in Oregon.
County Manager Jeff Page recommended that the Planning Commission either deny or continue the application. He cited the need for input from Nevada Department of Wildlife, Mason Valley Fire Protection District, and the Nevada Department of Agriculture to ensure that all public safety and health issues are addressed.
He also expressed concern that staff has not heard back from the USDA on the applicants current status with their permitting process.
Several residents in the area testified against the application addressing concerns of safety and health. The applicant, Bonnie Ringo, expressed concern that she would not have applied for the Conditional Use Permit had she been told the answer would have been no.
She also complained about an existing facility not meeting the requirements of County Code. County Manager Jeff Page explained that that facility was built prior to the code being implemented thus the County has to rely upon USDA to enforce their regulations.
- application
- agriculture
- animal rescue
- animal rescue.
- animals
- C
- cats
- center
- community
- community development
- Community,
- county
- Department of Wildlife
- Development
- Experience
- fire
- Health
- input
- lyon county
- maintenance
- May
- May 2
- meeting
- mission
- need
- Nevada
- Nevada Department of Wildlife
- News
- non-profit
- non-profit organization
- Oregon
- Organization
- permit
- planning
- preservation
- Prior
- public
- Public safety
- regulations
- Rehabilitation
- Rescue
- Safety
- staff
- USDA
- Yerington
- wildlife
