{"id":1318438,"date":"2020-02-26T16:43:09","date_gmt":"2020-02-26T23:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=994009"},"modified":"2020-02-26T16:43:09","modified_gmt":"2020-02-26T23:43:09","slug":"rabbits-run-rampant-carbondale-continues-discussing-meat-bunnies-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/rabbits-run-rampant-carbondale-continues-discussing-meat-bunnies-rules\/","title":{"rendered":"Rabbits run rampant? Carbondale continues discussing meat bunnies rules"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Matt Kennedy holds two baby rabbits at his house in Carbondale.<\/strong>
Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Rabbits will likely run through Carbondale trustees\u2019 minds for a while longer, as the town debates whether meat rabbits should be left on farms or are a fit for the town\u2019s funky, sustainable character.<\/p>\n

The board of trustees spent nearly an hour Tuesday discussing a draft ordinance to raise the number of allowable rabbits on town properties above the current limit of three.<\/p>\n

The rabbit issue came up late in 2019, after Carbondale resident and chef Matt Kennedy<\/a> was cited for having well over the allowable number of rabbits on his Sopris Avenue lot.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started all of this with the problems that I caused with my rabbits. I had no intention of doing so when I started the project that I started at my house, so I\u2019ll apologize for that again,\u201d Kennedy said Tuesday.<\/p>\n

But he does want the rabbit limitations raised so he can continue raising rabbits, which he says is one of the most sustainable meats available. Kennedy, who faces fines<\/a> for violating the current rabbit limit, has also sold rabbit meat to area restaurants.<\/p>\n

The first draft of the ordinance, prepared by trustee Erica Sparhawk, raises the rabbit limit to 15 adults, and no more than 30 total rabbits at any given time. That allows for rabbits to be harvested on a regular basis (rabbits are typically slaughtered for meat at around 3 months old) while younger rabbits mature.<\/p>\n

The draft is modeled on the chicken ordinance language, but the trustees decided to consider another option: Tying the number of allowable rabbits to square footage.<\/p>\n

The preamble to the ordinance should would note that allowing rabbits for noncommercial meat could encourage local food production and possibly attract a local slaughter facility in commercial zones.<\/p>\n

It is also \u201cone way to maintain our small-town character and the desire to keep Carbondale funky,\u201d according to Sparhawk\u2019s letter about the ordinance.<\/p>\n

Three community members, who identified themselves as neighbors or within walking distance of Kennedy\u2019s hutches, spoke against raising the limit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho does this benefit, and who does it not?\u201d Russ Criswell said in comments to the board. \u201cAs an adjacent property owner, it does not benefit me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Both Kennedy and Brett Meredith said there are more people who would try raising rabbits if it were allowed.<\/p>\n

\u201cCarbondale wants this,\u201d Meredith said. \u201cTry it out, see if it works. It worked for me. Rabbits are clean, they\u2019re quiet, they\u2019re cute, and they taste good,\u201d he said, adding that 30 rabbits is a good limit.<\/p>\n

But several trustees balked at the idea of 30 rabbits on one lot.<\/p>\n

\u201c30 rabbits is a lot of rabbits, whether they\u2019re babies or adults, that\u2019s a lot of rabbits in one resident\u2019s yard,\u201d trustee Marty Silverstein said.<\/p>\n

Mayor Dan Richardson advised that, while Kennedy brought up changing the law, the idea\u2019s popularity could multiply like rabbits.<\/p>\n

\u201cMatt admits it was because of his rabbits is why we\u2019re talking about this, but by opening it up to the policy we could have 20, 50 rabbit farms in town,\u201d Richardson said. \u201cBecause we agreed to talk about it, I\u2019m willing to have another meeting to try and get it right,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Sparhawk said she would look at rabbit ordinances in other communities, like Portland, Ore., that have variable limitations depending on available square footage.<\/p>\n

tphippen@postindependent.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Matt Kennedy holds two baby rabbits at his house in Carbondale.Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent Rabbits will likely run through Carbondale trustees\u2019 minds for a while longer, as the town debates whether meat rabbits should be left on farms or are a fit for the town\u2019s funky, sustainable character. The board of trustees spent nearly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1318438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-05 14:35:27","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1318438"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318438\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1318438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1318438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1318438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}