NRPLUS MEMBER ARTICLE L ittle Archie cannot run and play like other goats. He was born with fused back legs. But he found freedom at Fairytale Farm in Winston-Salem, N.C., where owner Kimberly Dunckel and her family provide sanctuary for disabled and neglected animals.
Other barnyard residents include ducks, donkeys, and rabbits who are ineligible to stay at local animal shelters, which cater to cats and dogs. Dunckel fills the gap, giving specialized care to every creature who comes her way. Archie now has a wheeled cart he can pull with his front legs.
“He’s now learned to walk, run, jump, [and do] everything in it,” Dunckel says. “He’s living a life that he would never have been able to live otherwise.”
The Dunckels’ land is also a rescue project. When they purchased the 3.3-acre farm, the facilities were abandoned and dilapidated, and the grounds were littered with debris. The Dunckels cleaned up the mess and created a magical kingdom, formally launching Fairytale Farm as a nonprofit organization in 2021.
Response from the community was positive. None of the Dunckels’ neighbors complained, and many volunteered to help. Small groups came to the property to learn about and connect with the animals through the sanctuary’s events. The city saw all this as a problem. Rather than let Archie and his friends live happily ever after, they ordered the operation shut down.
When public outrage ensued, the city was quick to backtrack. Revised orders allow the sanctuary to stay open, but the Dunckels no longer can hold events — not even small educational classes for homeschoolers and Girl Scouts. The city also blocks the Dunckels from hosting more than three or four volunteers at a time, despite the existence of an on-site parking lot with ample space.
Dunckel says the edicts could have the same effect as a shutdown. Community events are necessary to raise awareness, and volunteers are necessary to handle daily chores. “It takes a ton of work to care for this many animals,” she says.
The reason for the government’s meddling has nothing to do with public health or safety — or any public need. Winston-Salem opposes Fairytale Farm merely because the zoning code does not explicitly authorize an animal sanctuary in the neighborhood.
Rather than accept this violation of her property rights, Dunckel and her charity fought back with a lawsuit filed on April 26. Our public-interest law firm, the Institute for Justice, represents them.
This case highlights a nationwide problem. Local governments from coast to coast are weaponizing zoning codes to prevent people from using their property in safe and ordinary ways. Enforcement has become increasingly abusive.
Home-based enterprises make popular targets. San Francisco, Boston, and many other cities use zoning rules to ban client visits where people live. Piano teachers, tutors, manicurists, hairstylists, and portrait photographers cannot legally work at home.
Bianca King had to sue for her right to operate a small day-care center at her home in Lakeside, Texas. Lij Shaw had to sue for his right to record music in his soundproof home studio in Nashville, Tenn. And Maria Winter has had to fight for her right to sell homemade cookies in Somerville, N.J.
Local officials also use zoning laws to block affordable housing. One charity called Tiny House Hand Up hit hurdles when it tried to construct 600-square-foot homes for struggling families in Calhoun, Ga. Chasidy Decker got evicted from her tiny home on wheels when she relocated to Meridian, Idaho. And Amanda Root faced eviction from her land — which she owns with a clean title — because officials decided that her trailer home did not comply with zoning rules in Sierra Vista, Ariz.
Some jurisdictions even criminalize kindness. The zoning police tried to block a homeless shelter in North Wilkesboro, N.C. Something similar happened in Akron, Ohio, when a local business owner set up tents behind his commercial property to help homeless neighbors survive the winter.
If vulnerable humans are not safe from overzealous code enforcement, then baby goats have little chance. Yet the Constitution is clear: “No person shall be . . . deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”
People like the Dunckels should be free to use their land as they wish, as long as they aren’t hurting anyone. Their home is their fairy-tale castle.
Anna Goodman is the Bingham Fellow at the Institute for Justice. Daryl James is a writer at the Institute for Justice.