ST. CHARLES • A renewed effort to legalize pet pigs in St. Charles failed its first test Monday night as the city Planning and Zoning Commission opposed the idea.

The commission voted 6-1 to recommend against a measure allowing a type of swine called Juliani pigs. The City Council makes the final decision and may take up the issue next month.

Kerrie and David Meyers, with the help of Councilman Tom Besselman, are trying to get the municipal ban repealed so they can keep Pepper, a 15-pound Juliani they bought in March. The couple did so because two of David Meyers' three children — Blake, 7, and Heidi, 4 — are allergic to cats and dogs.

"We came here to be legal and not to hide it," said Besselman, whose 2nd Ward includes the Meyers' neighborhood. He added that "it's about the family wanting to do the right thing,"

However, commission member Patricia Lang said pigs just didn't fit in with St. Charles' "city personality."

"That's for the country," Lang said. "We're trying to move forward, not regress backwards."

Besselman had hoped to lessen opposition by including a requirement that pet porkers get council-approved permits on a case-by-case basis — to give neighbors the chance to weigh in.

However, Mayor Sally Faith, a commission member, and chairman Richard Baum both said they voted against the bill because they opposed making pigs a subject of council permits.

In 2008, the council narrowly defeated other efforts to allow one pet pig per household.

Local ordinances on the issue vary across the metro area, with pet pigs allowed in St. Louis and unincorporated areas of St. Charles and St. Louis counties.

Kerrie Meyers said previously that the Metro East breeder who sold Pepper told her that the animal won't exceed 20 pounds because its parents are 17 and 20 pounds.

The city bill defines Juliani pigs as 15 to 50 pounds, but most full-grown Julianis and other miniature pigs are bigger, Dr. Kristie Mozzachio, a pet pig expert at North Carolina State University, has said.

The commission recommended that if the council passes the bill, it should set 50 pounds as the maximum weight.

Meyers said that she was disappointed but that she still hoped to win council support — partly because Pepper is undergoing training for use in therapy for autistic children.