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Tommy and Bam-Bam, a pair of elderly goats, have been Franconia Township residents for more than 10 years, but in early December, the township’s zoning board ruled to evict them.
Ken Schumann has kept goats on his property since 2000. In May, officials found him in violation of the township’s zoning code, which prohibits keeping livestock animals on any property smaller than three acres.
Schumann argues township officials had visited his one-third-acre property on more than 10 occasions since he got his first pair of goats, Mindy and Molly, more than 20 years ago, including inspections to review construction of a deck and garage, during which the goats were visible. Schumann said he never received a complaint or warning from the township until this spring.
Franconia Township did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
The township’s letter citing Schumann’s code violation stems from complaints it received about the goats. Schumann acknowledged that the goats have broken out of his yard multiple times and defecated on a neighbor’s property while he was repairing the fence around their enclosure.
He paid $1,800 to appeal the zoning board’s decision, asking them to grant a one-time variance until Tommy and Bam-Bam die of old age. At 15 and 10 years old, respectively, the goats are near the end of their life expectancy.
At a hearing on Dec. 4, the board denied the request.
Schumann’s options now, he said, are to rehome the goats or keep up the fight in court. He and his wife, Kathleen Schumann, are both retired and on a fixed income. The two are considering setting up a GoFundMe to pay for legal expenses.
“It’s not like I’m asking to change the zoning and let me have more goats,” he said. “I’m simply asking for a variance to let them live their life out here. That’s all I’m asking — and, more importantly, an explanation why they never said a word, never. So that only led me to believe, knowing they were here, physically, seeing these goats all these years, that wasn’t an issue.”
If he had known he wasn’t allowed to have goats, Schumann said, he wouldn’t have acquired Cupcake and Peaches after Mindy and Molly died. He wouldn’t have gotten Bam-Bam as a young goat or adopted Tommy, a retired therapy animal, in 2015.
