Marion County officials granted permission to a Silver Springs homeowner to keep a pot-bellied pig on her property, despite receiving a petition with 69 signatures in opposition to the request and hearing at least eight public comments from neighbors citing odor, well contamination, and their homeowners’ association’s rules in defense of removing the pig.
The Marion County Board of County Commissioners (MCBCC) granted a reasonable accommodation with several conditions to Camilla Clark during its regular meeting on Tuesday, August 19.
The county says it received nine letters of opposition to Clark’s request. On Tuesday, before public comments were taken, staff also stated that it had received a petition with 69 signatures against the request.
According to the county, Clark’s home, which is zoned R-4, may have up to 29 dogs and cats and up to six hens. For most livestock animals, including pigs, a reasonable accommodation or special permit is required.
At the beginning of what amounted to over an hour of discussion on the topic, Clark offered an impassioned plea to keep her emotional support animal, Leo, who is a 75-pound, mixed breed, Kunekune and pot-bellied pig.
Clark said that she has two indoor cats, four dogs, five rabbits, fifteen quail, and one pot-bellied pig on the property, which is .23 acres in size. All the dogs and cats are spayed and neutered, and she clarified that the dogs also stay indoors unless they are supervised outdoors, with muzzles. Clark said she considers all the animals as pets, but that the family ate the eggs produced by the quail.
Clark claims she moved Leo onto the property in March of this year, but that she had owned the pig for a year before relocating him. She says she was told by her realtor that her pig “would not be a problem for the area.”
Clark is a single mother of two children and has two adult family members that she also cares for on the property, works two jobs remotely, homeschools her children, and is the sole breadwinner of the property.
Clark claims Leo is keenly aware of her panic attacks and emotional needs. She spoke of her traumatic childhood, saying she was “raped, beaten, and neglected daily for years.”
“My PTSD and anxiety are completely understandable given what I have lived through, and I deserve to live a peaceful existence so that way I can be a listening ear and a guide for those who need me across the state of Florida,” said Clark. She said Leo is neutered and doesn’t have any “testosterone” or “male-driven” urges. She suggested that male pigs who are left unaltered are known to be more aggressive and smelly, and that this might be what is driving the “false belief that all pigs smell bad.”
She claimed the pig is not loud, obnoxious, does not smell, and that she regularly picks up his droppings, alleging the complaints were related to “discrimination” she has experienced since moving in.
“The neighbors behind us…have literally screamed at us and called me a ‘fat b-word, from the top of their pool deck, because we caught them taking pictures of our yard and asked them to leave us alone” said Clark.
Clark says another neighbor called Marion County Animal Services on her twice, claiming she “punched a dog to death.” She explained that she does not use aggression to combat behavior and suggested her neighbors saw her breaking up a fight between the dog and another animal.
Clark alleged those same neighbors approached her “aggressively” and gave her a “list of things we can and cannot do.” She said she didn’t feel as though they were breaking those rules and once again asked that they be left alone.
“We are here to stay and just want to be left alone. We don’t engage with any of the neighbors and, while there have been some hiccups and mistakes on my property, I learned very quickly and have corrected all issues that come up, even adding the fence in the middle of my yard to block my ESA from bothering the neighbors or getting close to their fence,” said Clark. She said her family “simply wants peace” and to live in a “safe and comfortable environment.”
“I cannot move as this is my first house I have purchased on my own and having done so, as a hard-working community member and single mother without support, I intend to see it through as I agreed to. This house represents the stability I have worked so hard for in the last nine years, going from a homeless person with mental health and substance abuse issues, to an advocate and voice who are met with stigma and discrimination,” said Clark, who became visibly emotional several times during the meeting.
After sharing her comments, at least eight neighbors offered opposing viewpoints.
“I have multiple concerns,” said Chris Carrubba.”The smell of the pig feces is horrible and unmistakable. You combine that with the other animals and the smell is a daily nuisance. Flies are abundant. The smell has the potential to attract larger predators,” said Carrubba.
Carrubba claimed all of the animals use the bathroom next to his property line. He further pointed to a makeshift shed built outside for the pig, saying it was likely not “permitted” and that in the event of a storm, it would “wind up” in his yard, his neighbor’s yard, or Clark’s yard. He went on to cite that the proximity of the animals’ fecal pit to his well was concerning.
“I’ve lived in Marion County for 35 years and paid taxes. I’ve also lived in Silver Springs Woods for 17 years and paid my HOA dues. My fear is that, my well will be contaminated by their animals and that, my property value will be compromised because of the things that they’re building there, and basically the smell of the pig,” said Carrubba, doubling down on the odor issue. “I am definitely against having the pig or the enclosure to house them.”
Another local resident, Tyme Stemen, echoed Carrubba’s concerns.
“The property owners’ association has bylaws against having farm animals. Especially on less than a quarter acre. Again, like Chris Carrubba said, one of the main concerns is the water contamination, especially being like 25 feet away, or less than 25 feet away from the source of the potential contamination,” said Stemen.
Stemen claimed she had seen feces leaking under Carrubba’s fence and onto his property from Clark’s property. She acknowledged that Clark had put up a fence to mitigate part of the problem in keeping the pig from other animals, she hypothesized that it might not be enough.
“I’m aware that Ms. Clark has put up temporary fencing that does keep the pig away. However, if that fencing does fall and that pig has access to the property, or the privacy fence again, you know, who do we call to come and fix that?” said Stemen. She said she knew that animal control was already “overworked and underfunded” and asked again “who comes out right then” to fix those types of problems.
Stemen cited several more concerns, including who would be responsible for testing the well water for potential contamination and whether food for the pig being kept outside could lead to an increase in rodents. She stated that she moved into the neighborhood with the expectation that the lot sizes would limit what types of animals could be kept by her neighbors.
Stemen went on to cite several other cases recently of residents who have been awarded special use permits for their own livestock and pets, suggesting those cases had much different conditions, layouts, and concerns, and reiterating that Clark’s animals were likely not being kept in safe conditions.
The chairman of the Silver Springs Woods Property Owners Association, Clint Myers, said that he created the petition in opposition to the request. Myers claimed he didn’t have to go door-to-door to gather signatures and that, once he announced “what it was for,” multiple neighbors willingly came to him to oppose it.
“If they allow livestock, what’s going to happen with our property values? I myself don’t want a pig or a goat or whatever. I can smell it when I go mow the neighbor’s yard where they live, so I know what it would be like. I just hope it doesn’t go through,” said Myers.
Clint Lafflin, who moved into the neighborhood three months ago to get away from the city and have “a little more property,” said he lived on a farm growing up and could attest to the animal’s odor.
“I walk by their place, my dog alerts to that place, because she knows that there is something there that she is not used to smelling,” said Lafflin. He stated that his biggest concern was “health issues,” asking whether the animals were “well taken care of” and whether Clark had all attained all the “required vaccinations” for “the pig.” Lafflin went on to suggest the Florida Department of Health in Marion County should inspect the property to make sure that the living conditions were adequate.
At least five other property owners on neighboring sites offered opinions in opposition to the request during the meeting.
During an extended discussion among MCBCC members, multiple questions were posed and several sticking points were addressed.
“When you live in a residential area, you have certain things that you can do and certain things you can’t do. If you want a bunch of animals, then you go get agricultural property,” said Commissioner Craig Curry. The commissioner stated that he was likely going to vote against it because he couldn’t ignore the testimony of the many residents in opposition.
“To me, I’m here to make a decision on the pig…you can’t ignore all of the testimony that has come to the forefront of all of this,” said Curry before saying he would not support the measure. “The pig does not lend itself to this type of residential community, and so I’m going to vote against it. I’m sorry.”
MCBCC Chairwoman Kathy Bryant offered a different take, saying she appreciated and understood Curry’s position and that, although it was not reasonable to ask for some of the animals that are currently on the property, Leo could be the exception.
“I understand your position for denial…because of what this request is, and the evidence that’s been presented for us just regarding the request for Leo, the pig, and with the physician’s statement that we have. In my mind there has been some evidence presented to support that request. But then we have the rest of this stuff from the rest of the neighbors, and we can address that while addressing this request,” said Bryant.
After public discussion and comments by the MCBCC, Curry issued a motion to deny the request and the board split a vote of 2 to 2, with Commissioner Michelle Stone not present.
Further discussion led to commissioners voting 3 to 1 to allow Clark’s reasonable accommodation, with Curry being the lone dissenting vote. That approval came with conditions that the pig be kept inside at all times other than supervised time outside, and that within 14 days of the meeting, Clark must get rid of the quails and the rabbits that she has at the site.
Before the discussion concluded, Bryant reiterated to Clark that if she did not comply with the county’s conditional approval, her permission would be revoked and she could lose her emotional support animal.
The board also clarified that it was not enforcing deed restrictions or HOA rules, and that Clark may incur additional challenges to her ownership of Leo from the organization.