Menomonee Falls WI ordinances

[WisconsinChick]

Can anyone simplify the Menomonee Falls ordinances for me? Ive searched but don't understand any of it

. Thank you for your time, Nicole

 

[tiki244]

Is that Menomonie by Eau Claire? Or Chippewa Falls? Where is menomonie Falls?

 

[SewingDiva]

Quote:
Well - trust me its not you. Laws of any kind are supposed to be drafted in plain English, but I've seen penty of legal drafting that makes my head spin - and I work in this field! Also, anything written before about 1980 might be drafted in "old school" legalize, which makes it only harder to understand.

Can you give us a link to what you've read? I can take a look at it and interpret.

~Phyllis

 

[WisconsinChick]

O.K. I cannot even find the thing
I found about pet chickens but here is a link to the ordinances. http://www.municode.com/resources/gateway.asp?pid=13290&sid=49 .

 

[paradox2]

I'm resurrecting this old thread. I also live in Menomonee Falls (Which is a suburb of Milwaukee). I just got a 'love letter' from the village about my girls.

Here's the problem... In the municode, it says:
Sec. 122-327. A-1 agricultural district.
(a)
Principal uses. Principal uses in the A-1 district are as follows (for 35 acre minimum tracts or larger): Agriculture; dairying; general farming; raising and harvesting of crops; grazing of herds; hatcheries; feeding, fattening or raising of livestock or poultry; pasturage; commercial stables; raising of fur-bearing animals; pea vineries; riding academies and commercial paddocks. Barns, farm sheds, milkhouses, chicken coops, silos, etc., and farm dwellings for these residents and laborers actually engaged in the principal permitted uses are accessory uses, and such residences shall comply with all of the provisions of the R-4 residential district except as modified in this section. "

That is it... there is no other mention of poultry, except in the definition of animal in another section. Now, the village argues that because poultry are specifically allowed here as a principal use, that they are prohibited in any manner everywhere else.

My argument, on the other hand, is two-fold. 1) I have less than a dozen chickens (8 of them are chicks my daughter is raising to sell). No stretch of the imagination would put that in a 'principal use' category. and 2) This ag listing also mentions the raising and harvesting of crops, yet the village says they do not object to a personal garden.

So, I'm raising crops for personal use, which is apparently OK, and I'm raising chickens for personal use, which apparently is not.

I need to figure out what to do.. the village is clearly not applying consistent rules (ie flora OK, fauna not) with regards to this issue. And there is NO mention of ANY kind of animal in the zoning rules for my area (R5)... nothing about cats, dogs, rats, chickens, turtles, snakes or anything else. There are plenty of things prohibited (auto body repair, and such), but the absence of a prohibition in the case of animals would seem to me to be permission, so long as it's not to the level of principal use. (I have never sold eggs, either)


Help?! And/or does anyone know a good, reasonably priced attorney?

 

[bubbachicken1]

Paradox2, what ever happened to your fight with the village?

 

[kkoller]

Hi All,
Just came across this thread. I am moving to the Milwaukee area and am very interested in getting a few chickens, so I've been researching all of the local laws. I really like the Menomonee Falls area, but did find this on their village website (pasted below). I would also be interested to see if Paradox2 has any updates on her situation. Thanks!

http://www.menomonee-falls.org/256/Animal-Control

Animal Control

Allowable Pets
The Village of Menomonee Falls does not limit the number of pets a citizen may have. According to municipal code, dogs are required to be licensed.

The municipal code restricts several types of pets to areas zoned only for agriculture. Pets and animals covered by zoning restrictions include, but are not limited to:

• Exotic animals -including pot-bellied pigs
• Fowl -including sea hens, guinea hens, or pigeons
• Domestic animals -including cattle, sheep, goats, chickens or rabbits

For more information, please see Chapter 14 of the municipal code or contact the Police Department.​

 

[buck-buck]

This is kind of an old thread but are you still interested in learning the ordinances in the Falls regarding chickens?

Right now you need to have 35 acres to have the first bird, This is why you may see a lot of people using "don't ask, don't shell" to raise their birds. In other words, just do it and hope you neighbors don't notice or have an issue with it.

That said, there is a movement currently underway to change the ordinance to something less than 35 acres -- but probably more than what Milwaukee now allows which is one chicken per foot of yard.

To make this happen we need support from residents. Are you still interested and/or do you know others who may be?

 

[buck-buck]

Hello,

I'm in the process of trying to get this ordinance changed. I have some support from other members on the Village board but I need support from the residents of the Village. My position is that our neighbors to the south (Brookfield) allow their residents to have chickens on 3 acres. Yet there is a current effort to have that reduced to somewhere along the lines of what Wauwatosa (which also allows chickens) or even Milwaukee (also a chicken friendly city) allow. Menomonee Falls on the other hand requires 35 acres to have the first chicken. This is way too restrictive and needs to be changed.

My argument also incudes that the committees keep in mind that the folks that want chickens are upscale (like Wauwatosa and Brookfield) and willing to invest hundreds if not thousands of dollars into their pets. If this was simply to make some money selling a few eggs, it's clear to see this would be a poor investment particularly considering the cost of eggs in the grocery store. Instead, these are folks who want to live a more sustainable, organic lifestyle and who may have kids that they would like to educate on where our food comes from. These animals will be well cared for and unlike dogs and cats that have no restrictions and whose waste is landfilled, many chicken owners will likely use the waste in their gardens. Also unlike some dogs, the hens are docile and friendly. Seeing a large dog in someone's unfenced yard will certainly give many folks pause, however 4-6 chickens will likely go unnoticed.

This is the stance I will be taking with the board but I need support from the residents. I can't do this alone. Please contact me if you want to help.

Thanks

 

[bubbachicken1]

buck-buck I live in the falls and would like to see the ordinance changed.So count me in.

I have been to a few village board meetings trying to get a feel on how best to get this change to happen.

Have you reached out to trustees Chris Smolik and Jeremy Walz? I would start with an email to them, surely they had to have had a constituent or two ask them about this before they would bring it up. Maybe they will put you in contact with who brought it to their attention. Every person will count.

Next, I would suggest starting a Facebook page If you haven't already.

After that google "Backyard chickens in stoughton, wi" to get stoughton's ordinance to pass a group of citizens put together a really nice packet of information that busted most of the myths you are going to run into at the village board. It also might be worth putting something like this together for the MF zoning committee and the board.

You can PM me and we can setup a time to talk.