CENTENNIAL, COLORADO - HOA BATTLE -SUPREME COURT CASE

[yaguero]

Hey everyone! We are currently battling our HOA over our right to have chickens as "domestic household pets" and after a lot of research we came across a few cases, one by the Colorado Supreme Court in 1970 that supports our cause and I wanted to share it with you!!
https://law.justia.com/cases/colorado/supreme-court/1970/24283.html

Other court cases in other states can also be used as evidence if there is not a direct precedent in our state:
http://www.santafenewmexican.com/ne...cle_5ba779d5-5e38-5fe8-acdb-ada6b41d2e2b.html

If your HOA prohibits chickens but then makes an exception for domestic household pets, you have a solid argument (and I believe a right) to have chickens as chickens CAN BE domestic household pets under the law. GOOD LUCK!

How does the first case help us who want to have chickens as pets in our backyard? I read the case and they lost....Please help me understand if I am missing something as I am trying to get 2 pet chickens but am unsure if I can because of the HOA restrictions. My HOA's restriction is just a generic one but does not define "household pets". However my city allows us to have up to 8 "domestic fowl." The bylaws state " Pets: No animal, livestalk or poultry of any kind shall be raised, bred or kept on any Lot except for cats,dogs, or other generally recognized household pets of a reasonable number, provided that they are not kept, bred or maintained for any commercial purposes; and provided further, that no more than 2 adult dogs and 2 adult cats may be kept on a single lot." But where i'm stuck is where it says " or other generally recognized household pets" .. I think its very generic and alot of people would consider chickens to be pets. What are your thoughts?

 

[Sally PB]

But where i'm stuck is where it says " or other generally recognized household pets" .. I think its very generic and alot of people would consider chickens to be pets. What are your thoughts?

I think if you asked 100 people on the street if they either had a pet chicken or thought of them as "household pets," you would get either blank looks or "uh, no...." for most of your answers.

Here on BYC, a lot of (maybe most) people think of their chickens as pets, and many let/keep them in their houses. But this is a niche community of people, not the general population.

No animal, livestalk or poultry of any kind shall be raised, bred or kept on any Lot

Chickens are poultry.

Can you work to change the HOA bylaws?

 

[AGeese]

I think if you asked 100 people on the street if they either had a pet chicken or thought of them as "household pets," you would get either blank looks or "uh, no...." for most of your answers.

Here on BYC, a lot of (maybe most) people think of their chickens as pets, and many let/keep them in their houses. But this is a niche community of people, not the general population.

Chickens are poultry.

Can you work to change the HOA bylaws?

I skimmed this, but isn't it just a loop hole they were looking for? They didn't really want to keep them indoors, they just wanted an exception to keep them at all.

Personally I can't see why anyone would want to live under an HOA, but I've left the city for the county never to return.

 

[Sally PB]

Personally I can't see why anyone would want to live under an HOA, but I've left the city for the county never to return.

Same here. No HOA for me, ever.

 

[FrostyMilkshake]

Personally I can't see why anyone would want to live under an HOA, but I've left the city for the county never to return.

They are numerous even though they shouldn't be allowed to exist to begin with impo when people actual own the property they bought.
Sometimes people have to settle for what's available near their job and jobs have different radiuses. And sadly there are people who weaponize HOAs, and all it takes is just one person who isn't happy about something to bother everyone around them about their properties. And nothing is done about HOAs or ordinances from being used as a weapon by an individual to target other people around them when I'm sure the other people would just rather have the unhappy person bothering everyone to move away.