“I grew up fourth-generation in agriculture, and now you’re saying it doesn’t belong in the city,” Fertic said. “You’re going to have a big problem with the ag industry if you start pushing that issue. I think this is a process we need to stop now.”

Fertic pointed out that the city had plans to annex land as far out as The Manor and along Narcoossee Road, areas that have a bigger emphasis on agriculture. A resident from the area told the council that neighborhood children, her daughter specifically, often raised hogs for 4-H. If the area was annexed into the city, they would be banned from doing so.

Councilwoman Mickey Hopper agreed that the ban against swine in general needed to be further explored.

“If you go back umpteen years, when probably this ordinance came into effect, our town was a lot smaller,” she said. “We don’t want to ruin somebody else’s lifestyle just because we want to annex them.”

Mayor Donna Hart cautioned against undue haste on the issue, reminding the council that the issue before them was limited to creating an exception for pot-bellied pigs.

“We haven’t annexed in anything yet. Let’s not count our chickens before they’re hatched,” Hart said. “When they get here and they’re coming in to annex, I think that would be the time that you would then address this.”

The code banning swine from the city simply reads, “It is unlawful for any person to keep any pig or hog.” The exclusion could be argued to be a health, safety and welfare issue, which wouldn’t allow pig farms annexed into the city be grandfathered in, City Attorney Dan Mantzaris said.

“The city’s code is a little unusual when it comes to these types of animals because it does allow, under certain restrictions, other types of typical farm animals like poultry and chicken and horses and cows,” he said. “It’s just the pigs and the hogs that are specifically without condition banned or excluded.”

City Manager Tom Hurt further clarified that the city allows for any agricultural animal within the city, without acreage limitations with the exception of horses.

“The city code says as long as your neighbors within 75 foot have no problem with it, you can have them, anywhere in the city, as a matter of fact,” he said.

However, council agreed that the issue of swine, and more generally agriculture, in the city should be addressed during a city workshop.

“If we’re supposed to be urban, according to county’s urban line, do you have agriculture uses in an urban setting? That’s the question,” Hart said.

The vote to allow one purebred Vietnamese pot-belled pig per household passed 4-1, with Hopper dissenting. Hopper said during the first reading for the ordinance that allowing the pot-bellied pigs would start a snowball effect to where the city would have to allow other agricultural animals as pets.

“It’s just starting a process that I don’t think we need to continue,” she said during the March 25 meeting

The council’s discussion on policy for keeping swine, and likely the more encompassing issue of agricultural uses within the city, is scheduled for the May 20 workshop. The city could allow pigs kept in a pen on a larger property with a conditional-use permit or special exceptions, Mantzaris said.

“You probably could carve or craft something that would fit most of the circumstances that would be unobjectionable to most of the neighbors and consistent with what you’re trying to do,” Mantzaris said, requesting more time for staff to look into possible options.