Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 16, 1994 TAG: 9403160033
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-6 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RICK LINDQUIST STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
After weeks of discussing a proposal to prohibit the keeping of all wild animals, City Council now is poised to permit people to have pet snakes as long as they keep them confined at all times.
"I don't want one myself," said Mayor Tom Starnes, who repeatedly prodded council to make a decision. Council finally agreed, on a 4-1 vote, to ask City Attorney John "Bunny" Spiers to rewrite the ordinance for the fourth time. Council is expected to finally clear the question from its agenda at its March 28 meeting.
The latest version will focus entirely on snakes, the creatures that started the whole wild-animal ownership controversy last year. It will bear little resemblance to the original ordinance, which got initial council approval in November. That proposal would have prohibited ownership of wild animals altogether. However, council agreed to take another look at the issue after reptile owners protested.
Violators could be fined up to $500, serve six months in jail or both.
Police Chief A.C. Earles - who requested the ban after one of his officers encountered a boa constrictor draped around a motorist's neck - said he was happy with council's latest action.
So was snake owner Chris Eng. In February, Eng attempted to plead the case for snake ownership on behalf of Virgil, his six-foot boa constrictor.
"I sleep less than three feet away from my snake," said Eng, who agreed that people who don't like snakes shouldn't have to be exposed to them.
He said his pet and his friends' pets - including iguanas, pythons, lizards and other reptiles - already are "caged well, and they're kept well."
Councilman Bob Nicholson cast the lone "no" vote, though he made it clear during the debate that he was not opposed to snakes. "My feeling is that certain animals should not be allowed in Radford, whether they're in a cage or not," he said.
Nicholson had suggested licensing certain pets - including snakes - but not restricting ownership, but couldn't get other council members to buy the idea.
"I think we missed the point of the ordinance," Nicholson said after the meeting. He predicted he and his colleagues would revisit the issue in the future.
In other business, City Engineer Jim Hurt updated council members on cleanup from the ice storm. "We feel like we have 40 percent of the job done," he told council. He said city crews have hauled some 260 tons of debris to the landfill and have "stockpiled" another 40 or 50 tons to haul later.
The second ice storm in February meant cleanup crews had to revisit neighborhoods that had been checked off following the first storm, he said.
"All of our other work is put on hold."
Hurt got council to set an April 1 deadline for residents to put out storm debris without paying a collection fee. "If we don't [set a deadline], this is going to drag on."
Hurt also encouraged volunteers to pitch in with the cleanup.
by CNB