Couple fights removal of goats from property
By Katelyn Gendron-List, Staff Writer
AGAWAM On July 10, Alan and Suzanne Griffin appeared in Massachusetts Land Court as the City of Agawam filed a Motion to Dismiss the Griffin's complaint against the city and the Agawam Zoning Board of Appeals.
The judge at the Massachusetts Land Court denied the city of Agawam's Motion to Dismiss the Griffin's complaint.
According to Frank Saia, the Griffin's attorney, the case will be allowed to go forward and they have 30 days to write a more detailed report.
On April 25, the Griffins filed a complaint alleging that the Zoning Board of Appeals violated their 9th and 10th Amendment rights and the American with Disabilities Act, when the city required them to remove two goats from their property on North Road.
Alan Griffin stated that the goats provide his wife with milk that help to ease her stomach pains because she is suffering from colitis, a chronic inflammation of the membrane lining the colon.
According to Griffin, the city sent him a letter stating that they would be fined $200 per day until they removed the goats. He said that so far he has not paid any fines.
The city currently allows horses but not goats in a residential zone consisting of a single family home on one acre of land, according to information released by Saia Law Firm, LLC.
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