The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Vohman looking at options
by Mark Reaman
An unusual K-9 legal situation is shaping up in town that could lead to the resignation of a Crested Butte Town Council representative.
Councilwoman Erika Vohman last week informed her fellow councilmembers and interim town manager Bill Crank through a group email that, “Due to too many barking tickets from my unruly pets, I find it necessary to move out of town limits. I’m not sure how long it will take me to achieve this, but probably something will happen by this June or July…”
Under the Crested Butte town code, an ordinance addresses noisy and barking dogs, stating that if the owner is found guilty three times in six months of having a noisy dog, the judge can order the dog removed from town.
Under section 7-5-90 of the town code, “The owner of any dog shall: Keep and maintain such dog so that it does not, by noise or other activity, injure or interfere with the rights of other persons.”
Under the penalty provision of the town code, “If a third offense…occurs within six (6) months from the date of the first offense, the owner shall be issued a summons to appear in Municipal Court and, if found guilty, the owner shall be ordered to remove such dog permanently from the Town.”
Crested Butte chief marshal Tom Martin said such action has never occurred as a result of a barking dog in town but it has been imposed by a judge as the result of a “vicious dog” situation.
While receiving several dog-related citations in recent months, Vohman has yet to meet the three strikes “guilty” threshold. Last month, she pled guilty to having a dog at large but asked for a trial by judge for two tickets related to barking dogs. That trial is set for May 4 in Crested Butte Municipal Court. Vohman was also issued a fourth dog ticket last week by marshals. That one too was related to a noise complaint with the dogs.
Vohman is adamant the dogs are not really “unruly” and she said the dogs apparently bother one neighbor in particular whose yard borders her back yard. The noise complaints have all been filed by the same neighbor. Vohman said other neighbors do not seem to be bothered by her dogs. The neighbor who filed the complaints has a cat that the dogs apparently like to bark at.
“My dogs wear bark collars when they are in the yard if I’m not here. If I’m here and they bark, I go bring them in,” Vohman said. “I am a responsible dog owner.”
Vohman said the current situation is stressful and so she is looking for a new housing situation outside of Crested Butte. She plans to short-term rent her home for a few years and then move back to her house on Whiterock Avenue. She anticipates that would be in three to five years.
“I will be off council as soon as I move out of town because I can’t serve a town I don’t even live in,” she said.
While the issue with the dogs is not yet resolved, Vohman is preparing to move on. “I am preempting the situation of being forced to leave,” she said
Vohman’s municipal hearing is set for Wednesday, May 4 at 10:45 a.m.
