Carly Miller is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media Catskill village officials are drafting a law that would regulate livestock in the village following resident complaints about chickens. During a public hearing July 25, residents and trustees considered ideas to ban or regulate farm animals. The village does not currently have a farm animal ordinance on the books, but it does have noise ordinances and health regulations, Catskill Village President Vincent Seeley said. Seeley estimates that about half a dozen residents keep livestock, mainly chickens. “We are crafting a law that doesn’t exist today,” Seeley said. “Some of this falls under the department of health but there is some gray area, in my opinion.” Options under consideration include a requirement for special-use permits for livestock, which would mandate applicants to notify their neighbors and limit the number of animals allowed per acre. Questions were also raised about what defines a farm animal versus a pet and whether the ordinance should be complaint based. Although a livestock ban was discussed, it was later decided to put the ban on hold and to pursue a special-use permitting system on a trial basis, Seeley said. “If the ban was something we got a lot of feedback on, then we could bring it to a public vote,” he said. “The goal of all this is to be completely resolved by the next [village] election in March.” A vote on the special-use permitting option will be held at the next meeting of the village board, 7 p.m., Wed., Aug. 8. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.