Laserfiche WebLink
<br />May 14,2009 <br /> <br />My name is Lisa Walker. I am currently residing and purchasing the property known as <br />10815 N. AVE L, La Porte, TX. 77571. I am requesting a variance on the City Code of <br />Ordinance 97-2198; the keeping of domestic livestock on property not less than 1 acre. I am <br />requesting this variance due to the therapeutic value and valuable life skills that it has helped my 9 <br />year old daughter Baylee Walker with. Baylee is Mentally and Emotionally Ghallenged; she <br />suffers from a form of Autism known as Pervasive Developmental Delay. From the time Baylee <br />could make sounds the only way she would communicate with me or anyone else was to growl or <br />grunt and act in an "animal like manner". With the help of extreme medications she did finally <br />begin to use some words to communicate, but the drugs did little to help with aggressive and <br />mostly violent behaviors towards me and then children or other adults she came into contact with.. <br />After moving back home to La Porte where I was born and raised, we got her first chickens. <br />Baylee has always loved to see and be around animals and I could see that they did calm her and <br />she would talk to them. As she spent more time with them she would help to take care of them <br />and named every one of them. I learned fast that I had found a way to reach my Ghild and help her <br />to relate to the world and to teach her ways to react to and deal with the many different situations <br />that anyone including children face everyday. As we got different animals that interacted with <br />Baylee in various ways I noticed she had learned to settle "disputes" among them, She began <br />learning patience and tolerance, that the animals all reacted to situations differently but they all <br />managed to get along with out being violent with each other. I noticed that as she spent more time <br />with them she began to communicate more with me, her teachers, her Doctor along with other <br />people. Needless to say it will usually only be telling you about her animals or what they did, <br />but it is talking and not growling or grunting. She has made so much progress since getting the <br />animals, but still has a very long way to go. I also know that my daught@f will probably neV@f be <br />able to hold a real job and or be able to coexist in the world the way that we do and also I hope to <br />be able to teach a way to be able to help provide for herself and learn to contribute to society <br />when she is an adult and I am no longer here to care for her. I am asking for this variance for only <br />a 7 1/2 to 8 year time frame or while Baylee resides in the house. My goal is to complete the <br />purchase of the property in '7 Yz to 8 yrs, and to sell the property and purchase a larger amount of <br />land where we will be able to have the animals with out any difficulties and where Baylee will be <br />able to remain and can be a productive member of society. <br /> <br />Thank You for your Consideration, <br /> <br />~~ <br /> <br />Lisa Walker <br /> <br />EXHIBIT A <br />