edward
07-04-2011, 06:53 PM
The Evolution of an Equine Building Code Exemption: One States Solution
By Sue Gray
Are we a farm or are we not? Many Equine "farmers" are often faced with onerous rules and regulations when building barns and stables. Rather than be considered as agricultural buildings, equine farms are often labeled as not meeting farm definitions, or not agricultural in nature. They are therefore faced with building code restrictions such as the need to build fire walls between buildings, place concrete sidewalks from "no-where to no-where", establish complicated tree plans, etc. Ridiculous some say...but happening across the country. Why are equine farm buildings not considered as other agricultural buildings?
The North Carolina Horse Council receives calls on a daily basis regarding just his issue. So in an attempt to help mitigate this problem for our horse owners, we approached or General Assembly for a building code exemption. In the first year we were successful in introducing and passing a new law which included specific language identifying Equine Farms and buildings as exempt. After several conversations with our State Fire Marshall, we entered the following language to help clarify the issue for any municipality holding jurisdiction over our equine farms. There was an existing General Statute. G.S. 143-138(b4) which specifically exempted Farm buildings from the building codes but which did not necessarily identify equine barns and stables as part of that exemption, albeit horses are defined by NC statute as livestock and also included in other statutory language as agricultural farms. That language read as:
(b4) Farm Exemption. - Building rules do not apply to (i) farm buildings that are located outside the building-rules jurisdiction of any municipality, or (ii) farm buildings that are located inside the building-rules jurisdiction of any municipality if the farm buildings are greenhouses. For the purposes of this subsection..."
We had additional language added to specifically identify our barns as being included in the exemption. It read as follows:
(1) A "farm building" shall include any structure used or associated with equine activities, including, but not limited to, the care, management, boarding or training of horses and the instruction and training of riders. Structures that are associated with equine activities include, but are not limited to, free standing or attached sheds, barns, or other structures that are utilized to store any equipment, tools, commodities, or other items that are maintained or used in conjunction with equine activities. The specific types of equine activities, structures, and uses set forth in this subdivision are for illustrative purposes, and should not be construed to limit, in any manner, the types of activities, structures, or uses that may be considered under this subsection as exempted from building rules. A farm building that might otherwise qualify for exemption from building rules shall not be exempt if it is used for a spectator event and more than 10 members of the public are present at the farm building for the event.
While this was deemed a great success and we are pleased with the passage of this legislation, we found that we still had not addressed the many concerns of our horse owning public. Many farms catered to large lesson programs which often entailed more than ten people in the facility at one time. In addition larger equine farms opened their doors for local open horse shows or other type equine events. These were not major commercial facilities but rather privately owned farms which could accommodate these types of needs for our equine community. So the solution seemed to be to try to build on our success and this year we moved to expand the exemption from building rules for farm buildings to include farm buildings used for spectator events.
The specific language deleted the number 10 and moved this to 50 people present at one time. We also need to accomodate larger crowds. To do this we have added language that states if the public present is over 50 in number a permit is issed by the fire marshal of the county in which the building is located to the owner or lessee of the property in accordance with G.S. 26 153A-357. Approval shall be granted after the fire marshal has verified the temporary nature of the event, the outstanding unsafe conditions have been mitigated and a fire watch has been established. For purposes of this section, "temporary" shall be defined as an event that is held not more than four times per calendar year in the building and the period of continuous use does not exceed 24 hours.
This legislation is pending, but we are receiving positive feedback from our legislators and remain hopeful that this will improve our current law. We sure did not get everything we wanted in this new law, but we will continue to work to improve this for our horse owners in North Carolina. One step at a time!
For more information on this or other laws relating to horses in North Carolina please contact: suegray@nchorsecouncil.com.
By Sue Gray
Are we a farm or are we not? Many Equine "farmers" are often faced with onerous rules and regulations when building barns and stables. Rather than be considered as agricultural buildings, equine farms are often labeled as not meeting farm definitions, or not agricultural in nature. They are therefore faced with building code restrictions such as the need to build fire walls between buildings, place concrete sidewalks from "no-where to no-where", establish complicated tree plans, etc. Ridiculous some say...but happening across the country. Why are equine farm buildings not considered as other agricultural buildings?
The North Carolina Horse Council receives calls on a daily basis regarding just his issue. So in an attempt to help mitigate this problem for our horse owners, we approached or General Assembly for a building code exemption. In the first year we were successful in introducing and passing a new law which included specific language identifying Equine Farms and buildings as exempt. After several conversations with our State Fire Marshall, we entered the following language to help clarify the issue for any municipality holding jurisdiction over our equine farms. There was an existing General Statute. G.S. 143-138(b4) which specifically exempted Farm buildings from the building codes but which did not necessarily identify equine barns and stables as part of that exemption, albeit horses are defined by NC statute as livestock and also included in other statutory language as agricultural farms. That language read as:
(b4) Farm Exemption. - Building rules do not apply to (i) farm buildings that are located outside the building-rules jurisdiction of any municipality, or (ii) farm buildings that are located inside the building-rules jurisdiction of any municipality if the farm buildings are greenhouses. For the purposes of this subsection..."
We had additional language added to specifically identify our barns as being included in the exemption. It read as follows:
(1) A "farm building" shall include any structure used or associated with equine activities, including, but not limited to, the care, management, boarding or training of horses and the instruction and training of riders. Structures that are associated with equine activities include, but are not limited to, free standing or attached sheds, barns, or other structures that are utilized to store any equipment, tools, commodities, or other items that are maintained or used in conjunction with equine activities. The specific types of equine activities, structures, and uses set forth in this subdivision are for illustrative purposes, and should not be construed to limit, in any manner, the types of activities, structures, or uses that may be considered under this subsection as exempted from building rules. A farm building that might otherwise qualify for exemption from building rules shall not be exempt if it is used for a spectator event and more than 10 members of the public are present at the farm building for the event.
While this was deemed a great success and we are pleased with the passage of this legislation, we found that we still had not addressed the many concerns of our horse owning public. Many farms catered to large lesson programs which often entailed more than ten people in the facility at one time. In addition larger equine farms opened their doors for local open horse shows or other type equine events. These were not major commercial facilities but rather privately owned farms which could accommodate these types of needs for our equine community. So the solution seemed to be to try to build on our success and this year we moved to expand the exemption from building rules for farm buildings to include farm buildings used for spectator events.
The specific language deleted the number 10 and moved this to 50 people present at one time. We also need to accomodate larger crowds. To do this we have added language that states if the public present is over 50 in number a permit is issed by the fire marshal of the county in which the building is located to the owner or lessee of the property in accordance with G.S. 26 153A-357. Approval shall be granted after the fire marshal has verified the temporary nature of the event, the outstanding unsafe conditions have been mitigated and a fire watch has been established. For purposes of this section, "temporary" shall be defined as an event that is held not more than four times per calendar year in the building and the period of continuous use does not exceed 24 hours.
This legislation is pending, but we are receiving positive feedback from our legislators and remain hopeful that this will improve our current law. We sure did not get everything we wanted in this new law, but we will continue to work to improve this for our horse owners in North Carolina. One step at a time!
For more information on this or other laws relating to horses in North Carolina please contact: suegray@nchorsecouncil.com.