A county ordinance that limits residents to having just three dogs and/or cats may be loosened in the near future.

The commission agreed last week to remove the restriction for homeowners who live on parcels zoned agricultural-residential, which has minimum lot sizes of five acres.

The move will not be official for a number of weeks, as the necessary change will be drafted by county planning staff and vetted by the planning commission before it is brought back for a formal vote of the commission.

Commissioner Lee Hearn advocated for the change, noting that the county doesn’t regulate the number of farm animals a homeowner can maintain.

“If we’re not going to regulate how many pigs my neighbor’s got, I really don’t want you regulating how many dogs they have,” Hearn said,

He added that any noise problem created by one’s pets can be handled by the county’s nuisance ordinance if necessary. As it stands now, the current regulation has been abused by homeowners who have an unrelated dispute with their neighbors and choose to complain to the county about the number of pets in order to start an investigation, Hearn said.

“I think the ordinance was well-intended, but I can tell you several people had the marshal’s office sicced on them because they had another issue with their neighbor. And I don’t like being in that business,” Hearn said.

Commissioner Allen McCarty said he is aware of one family that chose not to move to Fayette County because each of the four family members had their own dog, and that put them one pet over the county’s limit.

“Anything that costs us a home sale is not good for this county, in my opinion,” McCarty said.