By Dedra Cordle
Staff Writer
For months, the village of Urbancrest council has been mulling over two options in regards to the field dressing of animals within the community: establish an outright ban on the act or allow it to take place, but with modifications to shield the public from witnessing the act. At the June 2 meeting, they finally came to a decision.
With a unanimous vote, the council decided it would be in the best interest to establish an outright ban on the field dressing of animals in the village of Urbancrest.
“This legislation fulfills the immediate and future needs of the community,” said councilman Kenneth Skeaton. “We are a very animal friendly community and no one wants to see that.”
Skeaton said the newly established law was written in a way to ensure that it does not infringe on anyone’s individual rights and it clears up any misconception that carving a turkey for Thanksgiving would be banned as well.
“We will still be able to have a Thanksgiving dinner,” he remarked.
Though there has been only one noted incident of a field dressing taking place in public within the village, it caused such an outcry that the council felt compelled to act on the matter.
Mayor Joseph Barnes Sr. said at a previous meeting that he was in full support of the ban because “there should be no dressing of animals within the village, period.”
In other business, according to Skeaton, some progress has been made regarding the proposed access restriction for vehicles turning onto Augustus Drive from Urbancrest Industrial Drive from the hours of 3:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
He said he recently spoke with a representative with the Franklin County Engineer’s Office who said the village has the ability to restrict access during those hours if they so desired.
“They told us (the members of the health and safety committee) that it is far enough away that it would not impact the traffic patterns on I-270.”
Skeaton said the next step in the process would be to discuss the matter with stakeholders (such as business leaders and representatives with the South-Western City Schools District) and the residents of the village to get their feedback on the issue.
