A detailed review of the 2022 Raytown draft law is below the petition.
Sign petition if you:
- Support others in Raytown having the option to keep miniature goats; or,
- Want the option yourself of keeping miniature goats in Raytown
Raytown Residents!
If you want miniature goats allowed in Raytown:
1. Contact your Aldermen (link to directory with email and phone numbers below)
2. Sign petition to the city of Raytown (link above)
3. IMPORTANT: If you want miniature goats and your property is 1 acre or less, tell your Aldermen you want the draft revised to allow for miniature goats on standard sized residential properties.
Most cities’ miniature goat ordinances are designed to allow miniature goats on properties 1/4 acre or smaller. AS THE RAYTOWN DRAFT STANDS, MINIATURE GOATS WOULD ONLY BE ALLOWED ON PROPERTIES WITH AT LEAST 1 ACRE OF SPACE IN THE BACKYARD!
For more information, see Raytown Draft Law Overview below.
Find Raytown Aldermen email address and phone numbers at: https://www.raytown.mo.us/electedofficials.
Raytown Draft Law Overview
In 2022 the City of Raytown board of aldermen authorized city staff to draft an ordinance for Raytown residents to keep miniature goats. Raytown city staff created the draft through a very thorough process, including two planning and zoning meetings, a public awareness campaign, and discussion and open comment at board of aldermen meetings. A copy of the draft is below for reference.
The draft was constructed well overall. Raytown city staff addressed zoning, containment, cleanliness, limited period of time kids may be kept, selling of products, and more. The draft was comprehensive and thoughtful.
However, a severely excessive fence requirement and a few other elements need to be adjusted to make the draft practical to pass. The requirement to fence an entire acre of open roaming space with a 6-foot solid and smooth (privacy) fence, not allowing neutered male goats, and adding a permit requirement for new chicken owners does not match standard miniature goat ordinance requirements.
In August 2022 the board of aldermen voted to indefinitely postpone a vote on the draft. NOW IS THE TIME TO ASK FOR CHANGES TO THE DRAFT SO IT CORRESPONDS TO STANDARD MINIATURE GOAT ORDINANCES.
Strengths
Positive elements of Raytown draft ordinance in line with other cities’ miniature goat ordinances
- Simple requirement to keep animals fenced in a manner to prevent escape. Sec. 50-127. (10) f. 1.
- Some flexibility in number of goats permitted based on varying property sizes. Sec. 50-127. (10) d. 2. a, b.
- Permitting animal shelter up to 216 square feet per animal type, classified as accessory structures. Sec. 50-127. (10) e. 1.
- Care regulations for cleanliness and low odor. Sec 6-59. (b)
- Miniature goat kids permitted if less than 7 months of age. Sec 6-73 (b)
- Recognition that off-site sale of goods derived from miniature goats follows the same standards as other home occupations. Sec. 50-127. (9) o.
Weaknesses
Aspects of the Raytown draft out of sync with other cities’ miniature goat ordinances
- Minimum of 43,560 square feet open roaming area for just two miniature goats. Sec. 6-73. (a). All other cities require 260 to 400 square feet minimum pen size for two miniature goats.
- 6-foot solid and smooth fence encompassing the entire 43,560 sq. ft. open roaming space. Sec. 50-127. (10) f. 2. Most cities either simply require goats to be contained or have a minimum fence height of 4 or 5 feet around a 260 to 400 sq. ft. pen. The only other instance of city requiring a 6-foot fence is densely populated Edgewater, CO (7,600 people/square mile), more than twice the population density of Raytown (3,000 people/square mile). In Edgewater the majority of properties are 1/5th of an acre in size and there is no minimum property size to keep two miniature goats if 35 foot setback from neighbors is met. The minimum pen size is only 260 sq. ft., not 43,560 sq. ft.
- 100 foot setback from neighbor dwellings. Sec. 50-127. (10) e. Other cities require setbacks of at most 35 feet, often less, from neighbor dwellings, sometimes just 5 feet from property lines.
- Signed letters of support from all adjacent property owners Sec. 50-127. (10) b. 2. No letters of support from neighbors are required in any other cities’ miniature goat ordinances or other ordinances researched.
- Permit process, licensing every year, and microchipping. Sec. 50-127. (10) b.; Sec 6-73 (d), (e) Some cities require a permit, some require a license, but none were found to require a permit and a license renewed annually and microchipping.
- No allowance for neutered male miniature goats. Sec 6-73. Neutered male miniature goats are allowed in eleven of the twelve cities surveyed.
- New chicken permitting process incorporated with ordinance about miniature goats. Sec. 50-4 Agricultural Domestic Animal; and Sec. 50-127. (10) b. An ordinance about miniature goats should not add a permit process to chicken (outdoor fowl) keeping.
2022 City of Raytown DRAFT Miniature Goat Ordinance
Recommended Changes to Draft:
To make the draft workable for the citizens of Raytown, the draft ordinance should be adjusted so it compares favorably with standard miniature goat ordinances of other cities.
- Remove requirement to fence open roaming area of 1 Acre (43,560 square feet) with a 6 foot privacy fence and replace with standard 400 square feet minimum pen size and 4 or 5 foot minimum fence height.
- Remove unorthodox requirement for letters of support from neighbors.
- Allow neutered male goats (wethers).
- Any permit process required for miniature goat ownership should not be imposed on new chicken owners.
Essential:
– Remove requirement to fence one acre (43,560 sq. ft.) open roaming area with a 6-foot-tall solid and smooth privacy fence. Allow standard sized (400 sq. ft.) miniature goat pen with standard fencing for miniature goats. Fencing an entire acre with a 6-foot privacy fence is exceedingly cost prohibitive ($20,000 – $50,000) and not required by any other miniature goat ordinance.
Secondary (but important):
– Chicken law not affected.
– Letters of support from neighbors not required.
– Neutered male allowed.
Wish list:
– On properties smaller than one acre, allow 2 miniature goats (reduce 100 foot setback requirement) in keeping with all other miniature goat ordinances in other cities.
– For properties larger than an acre, allow more miniature goats on a graduated scale based on property size (see Seattle, Portland, Austin, Pittsburgh, Lakewood, and Wheat Ridge on comparison chart). Allowing 5-9 or more miniature goats on properties one acre in size or larger is common.
– Simplify (reduce) permit, annual license, and microchip requirement.
Raytown Draft Compared to Other Cities
Twelve cities’ ordinances designed specifically for the keeping of miniature goats in residential areas were reviewed. The graphs below illustrate aspects of the Raytown draft that vary significantly from the miniature goat ordinances of other cities. A complete chart comparing the Raytown miniature goat draft ordinance to other cities’ miniature goat ordinances is at the bottom of the page.
Minimum Property Size to Keep Miniature Goats
Compared to other cities, the minimum property size and setbacks required by the Raytown draft are in the extreme (far right of both graphs).
In all of the other twelve cities, miniature goats could be kept on properties such as these:
1/5 Acre (8,700 sq. ft.) Properties
The properties pictured above have space for a 400 sq. ft. pen 35 feet from neighbor dwellings and meet the minimum requirements in the twelve other cities.
However, according to the Raytown draft, only one of the properties below would qualify to keep miniature goats:
Over 1 Acre Properties
Only one property above meets the 43,560 sq. ft. behind the front face of the house and 100 foot setbacks from neighbor dwelling required by the Raytown draft.
Fencing Height and Distance
Another significant difference of the Raytown draft is the amount of fencing required. Most cities simply say the animal must be contained and do not regulate the height or type of fence. Three cities required a 4 or 5 foot minimum fence (Lakewood, Brighton, and San Diego). The only other city that requires a 6 foot solid fence is Edgewater to accommodate keeping miniature goats on 1/6 acre or 1/5 acre properties with a 260 sq. ft. (65 linear feet of fence) minimum pen size.
Because Raytown both requires the entire 43,560 sq. ft. (836 linear feet of fence) one acre open roaming space to be fenced and requires a higher than typical 6 foot solid and smooth fence as well, the net effect is Raytown requires at least 92% more fencing than any other city.
Quantity of Miniature Goats on 1 Acre
Although the Raytown draft would allow two miniature goats on a property with one acre of open roaming space behind the front face of the house, it is worth pointing out that technically 1 acre properties in Raytown would not be allowed to have ANY miniature goats. This is because a property would have to be significantly larger than one acre to have space for the house, front yard, driveway, etc., and still have at least one acre of open roaming space behind the front face of the house.
The cities on the graph above that allow 2 miniature goats actually all permit them on properties much smaller than one acre, as described previously. Six of the cities allow an increasing number of miniature goats as property size increases (see ordinance comparison chart below). In these cities, by the time a property reaches one acre in size, 5 to 9 miniature goats is a common amount allowed, sometimes more.
Raytown’s draft ordinance is commendable for allowing some increase in the amount of miniature goats allowed as property size increases (2 if property has one acre of open roaming space, 4 if property has two acres of open roaming space). However, the starting point for the amount of open roaming space needed to have even two miniature goats is so large that it pushes the minimum space requirements far beyond other cities’ requirements. In effect, properties must be about 1.5 acres before they can have 2 miniature goats and 2.5 acres before they can have 4 miniature goats. This is far beyond the requirements of other cities’ ordinances designed for keeping miniature goats in residential areas.
Neutered Male (Wether) Miniature Goats
Most cities, 11 out of 12, allow neutered male miniature goats. This is because neutered males (called wethers) do not smell strongly like an intact buck. Wethers make an excellent option for pet miniature goats because they do not smell and are usually cheaper than females.
Chart Comparing Raytown Draft to Other Cities’ Miniature Goat Ordinances
The information below is summarized from cities who have designed ordinances specifically for keeping miniature goats in residential areas. This is an overview, and although great attention has been paid to detail and the chart strives to be an accurate summary, it is still a summary by a non-expert with the purpose to give a general approximation of typical miniature goat ordinance requirements.
(Click link for enlarged view.)
Backyard Miniature Goats 