CLAY COUNTY, Mo. — Zebras and other exotic animals can now be seen roaming a rural Clay County farm; but people who live nearby became concerned when they learned those wild animals might one day be killed.
The privately-owned farm spans more than 530 acres, situated along Highway 92 and Cameron Road near Excelsior Springs, Mo. It’s zoned for agriculture, but now its owner has applied for a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) to make it an Exotic/Dangerous/Wild (EDW) animal facility.
Currently there are zebras, Eland antelope and Aoudad goats living on the farm that nearby residents like Sandra Harlow can spot from their homes.
“I’ve seen Zebras,” Harlow said. “It was okay if they were just there for enjoyment to look at, but now I’m hearing that it become a hunting ground for them also, and I don`t like that at all.”
Harlow’s concerns that someone might eventually be hunting those wild animals stem from details in a CUP application submitted to the Clay County Planning and Zoning Commission.
The application mentions the farm’s owner, John Ying of JY Farming, LLC, holds a Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) “Big Game Hunting Preserve” permit, which authorizes him to keep and hunt white-tailed deer, elk and ungulates, and similar mammals having hoofs related to the EDW CUP request.
The initial application also includes a business plan that cites the desire to “develop JY Farm into a functioning preserve that offers a quality experience to associates and families.”
The initial business plan lists proposals to:
– “Develop existing herd and purchase non-dangerous animals.”
– “Expand function of preserve to include managing of animals that need culled or purchased for meat.”
– “Market preserve through networking and social media.”
– “Depending on success of previous years, expand business to include onsite lodging and accommodations.”
“I’m disgusted about it,” Harlow said of the plan’s details. “I’m scared about it. I don`t think it`s right.”
More than half a dozen other people expressed similar concerns that the farm could possibly transform into some kind of lodge with year-round hunting at Tuesday night’s planning and zoning meeting.
“We all have that same concern,” one man said during public comment, “if they’re going to allow unharnessed hunting versus only deer season, that’s one thing. But if it’s going to be all these other animals and year-round, and stuff like that, it’s going to increase the bullet traffic a lot.”
Commissioners asked permit applicant Kelly Westfall, who was there on behalf of Ying, a series of questions, including whether hunting would be part of the business.
“Hunting can be taken as once the herd gets established,” Westfall said, “and if they need to be culled, they will need to be culled at some time, just like in the wild if the population exceeds a certain amount that the land cannot suffice. But that’s way down the road.”
Westfall told commissioners high-powered rifles might be used to cull the herds, but she said that would only happen once the population exceeds the land and she didn’t foresee happening until five years from now.
“It says holds a ‘big game hunting preserve,’” another resident said. “Now, you said she says, only when they cull the herd. Well, where’s the guarantee in that?”
Another person echoed the concern, “But if this culling is going to happen possibly year-round, that can be an issue for bystanders outside the fence.”
“We are a preserve,” Westfall said. “We’re given a permit by MDC and technically, we are allowed to kill as many deer as we want throughout the year, but we are not. That’s not what they’re there for.”
Westfall said Ying is a photographer who will spend most of his time photographing, not shooting the animals.
“I hope that the landowners adjacent to his farm realize that the confusion over what’s going on at that farm,” she said. “I don’t know where the propaganda is coming from, but it’s not going to be a killing field for animals. It is more like a nature sanctuary versus a hunting preserve.”
Prior to Tuesday’s meeting, Westfall submitted a revised application that featured a new business plan that specifically states JY Farm was “purchased as a private/leisure investment.”
The new plan rewords the proposal to call the farm a “preserve that offers a secure and private experience to the owner, family and friends,” and eliminates any future plans for marketing the farm or expanding it to include lodging or accommodations.
“So there’s no commercial side to this?” one commissioner asked Westfall.
“No sir,” she replied. “There will not be a commercial side to this, no.”
Commissioners unanimously voted to approve the CUP under these conditions:
- The applicant shall comply with all the conditions and requirements of the Land Development Code (LDC) Section 151-3.10, Conditional Use Permits, and Section 151-6.2 (E), Animals, Exotic/Dangerous/Wild (EDW), or as amended.
- The CUP shall be based on a time frame of ten (10) years.
- This CUP may be revoked at any time based on validated public complaints for violations to the LDC substantiated by County staff.
- Proper notification and registration with the Clay County Sheriff’s Office of the EDW animal facility.
- 8-foot perimeter fence around the entirety of the EDW animal facility.
- The applicant shall comply with and meet all codes and regulations stipulated by any local, state and federal governmental entities having jurisdiction over animal care and/or EDW animal facilities, or as amended.
- Each EDW animal must have current health certificate in accordance with Missouri Department of Agriculture standards.
- Display sign must be placed upon the premises stating that there are EDW animals on the property. The sign shall be visible and capable of being read from the public street that abuts the property.
- Once approved, this CUP is non-transferable; therefore, if ownership changes a new CUP must be filed with the Clay County Planning and Zoning office.
- The exchange of money for the right to hunt EDW animals on the subject property is not allowed.
- The EDW is limited to ungulate species except for wild boars.
- The EDW is limited to 100 EDW animals.
The application will now go before the Clay County commissioners for a final vote on Sept. 21.
