16135 Railway Rd SE Cows on Yelm Creek Response LetterNovember 8, 2011
James Park and Barbara Wood
16135 Railway Rd SE
Yelm, WA 98597
Re: Residential use of Livestock
Dear Mr. Park and Ms. Wood,
The City of Yelm has reviewed the documentation provided in response to our letter of April 5, 2011
(attached). At issue is the use of your property Zoned R -6 for livestock which are currently grazing on
your property at 16135 Railway Rd. SE. As cited in the April 6 letter, R -6 zoning only allows the keeping
of common house hold pets.
Miff HIM
I requested that you document the continued use of your property for livestock as Chapter 17.93,
Section 030 of the Yelm Municipal Code states "A non conforming use shall be deemed abandoned by
discontinuance or abandonment for a period of eighteen months, and any subsequent future use of
such land or buildings shall be in conformity with the provisions of this title."
The property was annexed into the City of Yelm by Ordinance 466 on April 28, 1993. The annexed
property was zoned Residential Agricultural (1 -5) per section 3 of Ordinance 466. Subsequently David
Prutzman & Robinson Homes, Karen Grinder and Robin and yourself were granted a Rezone from
Residential Agricultural (1 -5) to R -1 to accommodate the Woodfield Development. The rezone to R -1
became effective February 8, 1995. The rezone of your property to R -1 is consistent with the zoning of
the property annexed by Ordinance 466 on Middle Road. A short subdivision recorded May 6, 2002 is
the current configuration of your property as zoned R -6.
The zoning of your property by your intent since annexation has been residential. You have
documented the agricultural use of livestock by the October 16th letter of this year from Doug Rozof
between 1984 and 2000 and John Scotto has attested to bailing hay from the year 2000.
The documentation provided by you for the use of your property to date has not substantiated the
keeping of livestock since the year 2000, only the agricultural activity of haying. The City of Yelm has
determined the documented agricultural use of bailing hay is not the same as continuous use of your
property for livestock. Therefore, the non conforming use per Chapter 17.93.030 YMC of livestock in
an R -6 Residential zone is not allowed and the cattle must be removed within the next 15 days of the
receipt of this letter.
Sincerely
Gary Carlson
Building Official