Snake foes strike back

MAPLETON — Living in a Utah County town where farms, barns and animals still dot the landscape between rows of new homes, Mapleton residents are used to odors of all sorts.

But there is a new smell in town. And this one has people here taking a stand — it's the smell of fear.

A "snake farm" proposed by Mapleton newcomers Dan and Colette Sutherland has raised the ire of neighbors, who on Thursday asked the Planning Commission to deny the Sutherlands' request for the permit necessary to operate the business.

The brouhaha over the ball pythons has raged for more than a month, and at previous city meetings, folks have said they don't want the increased traffic the farm could bring and question whether the operation violates zoning rules.

Most of the objections, however, have centered on the prospect of having dozens, potentially hundreds, of snakes in the middle of their neighborhood.

At a public hearing regarding the issue Thursday night, the Mapleton City Planning Commission considered the Sutherlands' application for a conditional use permit to breed and raise the snakes at their barn in Mapleton.

The oft-contentious meeting, which lasted more than three hours, had not reached a resolution as of press time. More than 200 residents crammed into the City Council chambers and overflow area. Nine spoke during the public comment session and expressed strong objection to the Sutherlands' application.

The commission determined that snake breeding and rodent breeding (for the purpose of feeding the reptiles) were both allowable under the city's conditional uses standards.

Commission members also decided that if given final approval, the Sutherlands would be able to have up to 212 snakes and 212 rodents on the property. Still under discussion at press time was whether the permit would actually be issued and what specific conditions would apply if it is approved.

Aside from the name, there's nothing unusual about ophidiaphobia, the technical name for the fear of snakes. According to a 1999 Harris Poll, fear of snakes is the most common phobia among adults in America, with 36 percent of respondents saying they were "very afraid" of the slithering reptiles.

But what is it about snakes that prompts such a visceral reaction? They are rarely dangerous — only 10 percent of the snakes found in the United States are poisonous, and of the 8,000 reported snake bites each year in the nation, 15 or fewer are fatal, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. More people die from bee stings.