A controversy over farm animals, property rights and land use briefly divided a community near Hamilton Branch before neighbors came together in a compromise.
The agreement they reached allows Jason and Nicole Staniger to raise up to 10 pigs or cows on their 16.9-acre residential property at the base of Little Dyer Mountain. After neighbors raised objections, the Stanigers reduced their original request from nine acres, allowing as many as 18 hooved animals, to 5.2 acres, allowing no more than 10.
The Plumas County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the zone change Aug. 5, allowing farm animals on residential land as an ordinance, which they found exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act.
