Princeton, County seek to solve Arrowhead animal complaints
By David Williams
NL Editor
The saga of animal problems at an Arrowhead Drive residence could be headed toward a final resolution.
The home of Will Young has long been a target for complaints from the residents of the neighborhood since Mr. Young keeps dozens of animals, mostly livestock, on his property. Neighbors regularly complain about the smell and the damage the animals do to grass, shrubbery and even other homes when they roam around the neighborhood after leaving Mr. Young’s property.
His private zoo includes cows, horses, goats, ducks, geese and other animals and birds.
In the past week, Johnston County Animal Control officers were called to the area to help round up several cows and one horse that had left the property and were wandering all over the neighborhood.
Johnston County Animal Control Supervisor Ernie Wilkinson said his office had responded to several complaints of livestock running loose in the area, some calls coming as early as 5:30 a.m. Wednesday morning,
Mr. Wilkinson said that one of the calls was from Mr. Young, who called the county for help in corralling his animals.
“He said that someone had let them out,” Mr. Wilkinson said.
The responding officer reported that Mr. Young was driving his vehicle through the area, trying to herd the animals back to his property. He was driving through his neighbors’ yards in the attempt. The officer stopped Mr. Young from doing that, and spent two hours assisting Mr. Young in corralling the animals.
Mr. Wilkinson said that Mr. Young has been cited numerous times in the last two years for having animals at large. Mr. Young has not paid or appealed any of his citations.
“We get calls from Arrowhead every week,” Mr. Wilkinson said.
Mr. Wilkinson said that he has been in contact with the county attorney, who said the county had a sufficient case to go to court and force Mr. Young to take the animals off the property. But the county intends to act in conjunction with the town on a legal front.
Several of Mr. Young’s neighbors attended the January meeting of the Princeton Town Board, asking for help in remedying the ongoing animal situation.
Mr. Young was arrested last Tuesday for communicating threats after he allegedly threatened a neighbor to try and stop her from going to the town board to complain. He posted a $500 bond.
Princeton Mayor Donald Rains said at the time that since the property was outside the town’s limits, the town was powerless to take action. He did pledge to work with the county to resolve the problem.
Since then, the town is begun to pursue a zoning ordinance violation against Mr. Young.
Town Clerk Marla Ashworth said that Mr. Young stated he buys and sells the animals, which means he is running a livestock operation. That neighborhood is zoned R-4, which does not permit such business interests. Mrs. Ashworth is investigating the violation, which could result in Mr. Young having to remove most of the animals.
However, the law would give Mr. Young 14 days to respond and 30 more days to comply. After that, the town would have to take him to court, resulting in longer delays that would leave the animals on Arrowhead Drive.
Town Board member Walter Martin said that if the town and the county could get Mr. Young’s cooperation, the matter could be resolved in 30 days. But if he chooses to fight it out in court, the matter could take up to 90 days to resolve.
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