Albany County planners weigh new livestock definitions and fencing rules to reduce subdivision conflicts

Albany County planning staff presented proposed amendments Dec. 10 to clarify where livestock production and at‑large grazing are allowed and to set standards for fencing and incidental livestock in non‑agricultural zones.

Staff said the goal is to give clearer sideboards on where commercial livestock production may occur and to allow incidental, small‑scale livestock keeping for personal use in most zones, provided animals are fenced or otherwise enclosed in districts where principal agricultural uses are not allowed by right. The proposal would remove the word "commercial" from the principal livestock‑production use and add incidental‑use language with a required enclosure standard in those districts.

Commission discussion centered on how to define "incidental" (several commissioners asked whether an animal‑unit threshold should be specified) and whether commercial and industrial livestock uses should be prohibited or allowed by conditional use. Commissioners generally agreed to change prohibitions in commercial and industrial zones to conditional‑use status so the county can evaluate site suitability case by case; they also asked staff to add clearer wording on fencing and to return with redline text for a public hearing.

Commissioners noted existing state and county definitions related to feedlots and stockyard operations (for example, references to 10 animal units per acre in state standards) and suggested consultation with UW Extension or other agriculture experts on reasonable thresholds by parcel size. Staff said they will draft redlines to limit the proposal's practical impacts and present them at the next meeting.

No final zoning changes were adopted at the meeting; staff was directed to prepare redline language reflecting the commission's guidance and to return for a public hearing.