Aldermen heard arguments for several new ordinances at Monday's City Council meeting, including one that would allow for therapeutic pigeons for a man with PTSD and one that would add new rules regarding motorized vehicles on city trails.
The ordinance allowing for domestic keeping of a certain type of pigeon is the result of a Bella Vista resident who provided a doctor's note to the city that states he needs pigeons for his emotional well-being.
Alderman Allen King, who proposed the idea, says that the man deserves to keep the pigeons and that it will not affect the public. But other aldermen saw potential issues with the ordinance.
"So this ordinance would allow any pigeon or any dove to be housed in Bella Vista? Is that what you're trying to do?" Alderman Frank Anderson asked. "Are there any limits on how many hundreds I could have?"
"I was trying to do a workaround (for people who need the birds for medical reasons)," said King, adding that, because the ordinance is in its first reading, he is open to tweaks that would make it a better idea. "We can always hammer it around some more."
"We used to have a saying in law school: 'good facts make bad law,'" said Alderman John Flynn. "This is an example of that. Alderman King is trying to do something nice for someone who probably deserves something nice. But I don't think it's a good idea to just allow pigeons and doves anywhere in Bella Vista. It's a lot different than a dog and a cat. There could be a lot of potential problems with neighbors."
"They don't bark all night," King said.
Alderman also heard the first reading of an ordinance to ban all non-police motorized vehicles from the now-under-contruction bicycle trails. Mayor Peter Christie said that this is needed because of the amount of people illegally using the trail system before it is completed, many times riding dirtbikes or ATVs and severely damaging the pathways.
"This has cropped up as we are building the first 38 miles of the 150 miles of trails," said Christie. "We have some people out there using the trails before their built, and it's a safety hazard.... There are people using motorcycles on these trails. These trails are not built for that purpose. So we'll have to have to go back and fix the trails, which will increase the cost. So unfortunately we now have to impose rules regarding the use of motorized vehicles."
Anderson argued that the new rules would be confusing because they only apply to city-owned trails, leading to inconsistent rules on the trails in the city.
"How can we tell which trails we're talking about?" Anderson asked. "How does anybody know (which rules apply to which trails)? How does anybody know that this ordinance does not apply to the trails by Lake Windsor or Loch Lomond? Where does it say on the trail?"
"There will be signs posted on the trails consistent with those that are posted in other cities," said Christie. "As for policing, we now have four officers that are now trained in the special techniques of mountain biking, plus... CPR."
"I think this ought to be expanded to include the other trails I'm talking about," said Anderson.
Despite the POA trails being open for public access, City Attorney Jason Kelley said that the city will not be able to enforce rules on those trails without the POA agreeing to them.
"It only applies to public property," Kelley said. "We are not trying to propose to limit operation hours on private property.... I'm not sure that we could."
Christie said that he would meet with the POA to come up with a way to work together on new rules.
General News on 04/27/2016