The fake cow has stood on top of Cheddar Et Cetera for almost two years. The fake cow has stood on top of Cheddar Et Cetera for almost two years. (CBC)

A beloved roof-top cow statue that breaches an Ottawa bylaw can stay perched on an Orléans cheese shop for now.

On Tuesday morning, Ottawa's planning and environment committee ruled that the black-and-white bovine above Cheddar Et Cetera could stay put until the end of 2010. The St. Albert Cheese Co-operative, which owns the store, had been ordered to remove the statue because it breaches a ban on promotional objects and banners above a store's roofline. The order led to an outcry from local residents.

At Tuesday's meeting, the committee asked staff to review the bylaw.

"We have to show some common sense, we have to show some reason whenever we make decisions," said committee member Bob Monette, councillor for Orléans ward.

He had proposed the reprieve and the review of the ban after hearing the statue was important to local residents, the cheese shop and the cheese co-operative.

About 1,500 people signed a petition in support of keeping the cow where it has stood for almost two years.