City Issued a Citation and claims we aren’t allowed to have chickens due to neighbor’s complaint. What are my options?

[All4Eggz]

I asked for an update this morning and got a swift response!

 

[All4Eggz]

Got an email this morning!


“
All hands on deck!

Anyone you know that would like to have chickens can attend the zoning planning and development meeting tomorrow evening starting at 5:30. I believe it's up to the discretion of the chair person to allow comment on something that is on the agenda for that evening. So have something in writing, 3 copies, to submit.

The public hearing for this ordinance timed out so we will have to schedule another one with the planning board and the city council so that is going to delay things a few weeks. Once those public hearings are closed, the public cannot comment anymore. So if anyone wants to say anything about this they need to put it in writing and email the three zoning planning and development members and planning board members.

Below you will find things we will discuss tomorrow and going forward. Please reply to me with any suggestions comments or concerns I really appreciate your input! thank you so much.

If this goes smoothly, best case scenario would be to have a city council public hearing in April as well as the planning board and then in May we would need two meetings to vote on this and pass it so hopefully by May 15th we will have a new ordinance. If not, by June 5th meeting

The ordinance is for chickens only

6 HENS FOR EVERY 7500FT LOT

MAX NUMBER (20?)

INCREASE OF 3 CHICKENS PER 7500 SQ FT (THIS ESSENTIALLY YIELDS THE MAX OF 20 FOR 40K SQ FT AND UP. 1 ACRE LOT

ONE COOP PER PROPERTY

NO ROOSTERS

ENCLOSED, SECURE COOP AND ENCLOSED RUN (OPTIONAL)

All food must be securely stored
(UNNECESSARY?)

15 foot distance from property lines
AND 30 FT FROM NEIGHBORING STRUCTURES. (OLDER PROPERTIES MAY HAVE STRUCTURES CLOSE TO LINE)

Ordinance to be enforced by the Animal control department

Application to be filed with the Animal Control Office with application fee.

Any exceptions would require a special permit
SPECIAL PERMIT ONLY FOR UNDER 7500 SQ FT AND TO ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

Annual inspection by the Animal Control Depatrment for a fee
“

I believe the text in parenthesis are his own ideas about some things that may be brought up.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Got an email this morning!


“
All hands on deck!

Anyone you know that would like to have chickens can attend the zoning planning and development meeting tomorrow evening starting at 5:30. I believe it's up to the discretion of the chair person to allow comment on something that is on the agenda for that evening. So have something in writing, 3 copies, to submit.

The public hearing for this ordinance timed out so we will have to schedule another one with the planning board and the city council so that is going to delay things a few weeks. Once those public hearings are closed, the public cannot comment anymore. So if anyone wants to say anything about this they need to put it in writing and email the three zoning planning and development members and planning board members.

Below you will find things we will discuss tomorrow and going forward. Please reply to me with any suggestions comments or concerns I really appreciate your input! thank you so much.

If this goes smoothly, best case scenario would be to have a city council public hearing in April as well as the planning board and then in May we would need two meetings to vote on this and pass it so hopefully by May 15th we will have a new ordinance. If not, by June 5th meeting

The ordinance is for chickens only

6 HENS FOR EVERY 7500FT LOT

MAX NUMBER (20?)

INCREASE OF 3 CHICKENS PER 7500 SQ FT (THIS ESSENTIALLY YIELDS THE MAX OF 20 FOR 40K SQ FT AND UP. 1 ACRE LOT

ONE COOP PER PROPERTY

NO ROOSTERS

ENCLOSED, SECURE COOP AND ENCLOSED RUN (OPTIONAL)

All food must be securely stored
(UNNECESSARY?)

15 foot distance from property lines
AND 30 FT FROM NEIGHBORING STRUCTURES. (OLDER PROPERTIES MAY HAVE STRUCTURES CLOSE TO LINE)

Ordinance to be enforced by the Animal control department

Application to be filed with the Animal Control Office with application fee.

Any exceptions would require a special permit
SPECIAL PERMIT ONLY FOR UNDER 7500 SQ FT AND TO ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

Annual inspection by the Animal Control Depatrment for a fee
“

I believe the text in parenthesis are his own ideas about some things that may be brought up.

Wow! Great news then! I hope it all goes well for you and that you can get this passed.

 

[All4Eggz]

At the zoning and development meeting, the discussion on amending the chicken ordinance was at the end of the agenda. So I patiently waited 2 hours and finally, they began discussing a proposition for a new ordinance.

The point of this discussion was for the council to figure out a reasonable ordinance that they could put forth in the committee to get voted on *if it gets a yes vote at this hearing.

The city planner was present and discussed with the council on what they could propose. The one I got an the email was a draft, I guess, so that wasn't officially what they were putting through.

Instead of 7500 sq ft for 6 hens they brought it down to 5000, with the required coop distance from property lines at 10 feet and from neighboring structures at 30 feet. This is very reasonable. I liked the initial "draft" or discussion that allowed for an additional 3 hens for every 7500 sq feet but because the city planner wanted to kind of ease it in, he wanted to keep the limit of chickens low. I brought that up but it got shut down quickly. I asked if there could be a possibility for people with more land to have more hens than 6. They decided on 40,000 feet. I said that doesn't make sense... 6 hens for 5,000 square feet and 40,000 for 12?? So someone with 39,000 square feet (still nearly an acre) can only have 6 hens? The council actually considered my input and they changed it to 20,000 square feet. So 6 hens at 5000 sq ft and 12 at 20,000 sq ft. I was happy with even this.

Then came the vote. 3 members of the council were there to vote. I needed 2 out of 3.
And I got exactly that!! They voted in favor which means they put the ordinance proposal into writing, made a petition in the name of the city council, and put it through to be discussed at public hearings.


This is already major. I've been waiting and working hard for over a year on this. Took so long to get it on the agenda to even be discussed, and now it was voted yes to be put into voting.

So, May 1st (in TWO days) there is a public hearing by the city council to vote on the matter. Public input is welcome, and the city councilor asked me to prepare to speak.
May 6th is the second public hearing, and this one is by the planning board. They also allow for public input.

This is so so big. People told me it wasn't possible. I talked to paralegals, councilors, city officials, chicken owners, nearby towns-- and for the last two years I've gathered so much information that debunks chickens being a problem in city limits. I presented information in writing at the hearing last month and the council was impressed.

Thank you for all your support. I'm looking forward to attend both hearings and hopefully they vote yes to put it into law!!!

The councilor that I work with closely says he predicts there's a good chance it will go through!
Every surrounding town allows chickens in all zones with some or no limitations (i.e, number of chickens, no roosters, etc.), and our town is more agriculturally based or farming based compared to most nearby towns.

Looking forward to updating you all with hopefully great news!!

 

[tlcmurphy]

Congratulations, this is huge! Can’t wait for the updates

 

[Iluveggers]

Yay! Good luck & thanks for the update!