Following below are excerpts from a local “ordinance” purporting to regulate backyard chickens. Some of it is reasonable (like no rooster) but much is patently absurd and tyrannical…
The City Commission of the City of XXXXX on Oct. 23 approved an ordinance establishing a two-year pilot program to allow residential backyard chickens on up to 15 single-family lots citywide.
The ordinance, adopted on first reading, permits up to three hens per qualifying lot (no roosters), requires applicants to complete a University of Florida/IFAS chicken-keeping course, and creates a permit and annual renewal system. The city set initial application and renewal fees at $75 and $25, respectively.
The ordinance sets basic standards and enforcement steps. Structural requirements include rear-yard coops only (no street-front placement), a minimum five-foot setback from property lines, 20 feet from adjacent dwellings, a coop size limit of 100 square feet and a six-foot maximum height. Hens must have at least four square feet inside the coop and five square feet in the run; predator-resistant materials are required and chicken wire is expressly forbidden. Sanitation rules require feed stored in rodent-proof containers and odor thresholds that would trigger enforcement if an odor persists for 15 consecutive minutes in an hour. The permit is suspended if a homeowner refuses inspection; repeated verified complaints can lead to fines ($100 first violation; $250 second) and revocation. …The ordinance prohibits slaughter and burial on site and forbids sale or distribution of eggs; eggs are limited to household consumption.
Comments: City is not huge but with 25K population, only of 15 yard chicken permits!
Permission to have chickens! Pay city $75! Complete a “chicken-keeping” course!
And WTF do these idiots think their “expressly forbidden” chicken wire is for?
I live within city limits and I can’t have chickens, and no more than 3 dogs without being a licensed kennel, which they probably wouldn’t give a license in my neighborhood. Cities have a lot of rules the county doesn’t.
P.S. I have a house rabbit I’ve had for 10 years, I never thought to see if I was breaking any laws.
P.P.S. I asked chat and my city has no laws on my house rabbit, so I’m not a criminal.
I posted this video a couple of months ago. I was showing the Hummingbirds but in the background you can hear a Rooster. As expected noisy, not once has the neighbor offered me any eggs. Think that he has about 13 Hens also.
What brought all this up was our neighbor who has a menagerie. Has or did have ducks, pigs, turkeys, goats, etc. Has given us eggs but not in a while, and we have returned LOTS of empty egg cartons. But it seems we had a full moon and rooster was going at 3 in the morning, non stop. Result is wife could not sleep and is getting cranky. So we wondered what the rulez were over the property line in the stinking city. Now I guess I better see what county rulez are but don’t expect them to compare to that city excrement. Only thing worse would be an HOA.
Oh, code complance has told neighbor she must get rid of rooster. I figure best place for him would be on the grill, but she don’t see it that away…
Now we get rest of the story! Chicken keeping neighbor did FAFO!
You see the city had NO regulation. But as it turns out neighbors on other side became unhappy about noisy rooster. Presumably they complained to PD and got no where. After some time they proceeded to attend city council meetings and complain. Net result: City enacts Backyard Chickens ordinance last October! Now about 90% of her critters are no longer allowed and we have more Tyranny just because the woman ignored all complaints about her stupid rooster.
Simple solution - chickens don’t need a rooster to produce eggs. Ditch the rooster and keep the chickens.
My HOA fees in Perfect Village are $100 per year. After 15 years they finally raised it from $50. Most of that goes to maintian the landscaping at the entrances to the neighborhood and to hold an annual picnic. We don’t have a lot of draconian rules.
It’s kind of funny, when I live in southern Overland Park the HOA’s had rules for fence height adn materials, playset designs, ‘outbuildings’ and various other things. Down there chain link fences were deemed to be too “white trash” and banned…only wood, which ages and beins to look shitty if not maintained, or wrought iron. But my neighborhood was built in the 50’s and 60’s with chain link fences everywhere. And a funny thing - you don’t notice them. Sitting on the patio is like being in a big park. Looking back at my old neighborhood, I find this to be rather funny
I have tried to get some of our restrictions lifted (outbuildings, fence material), but not enough people care so i gave up.
20-ish years ago when we first moved in my wife made me be on the pool committed because she knew I wouldn’t come up with stupid rules, and I would be verbal enough to fight any stupid rules.
Absolutely right KC, and everyone agrees with you…
Except our neighbor! She likes her animals. City and county both declare “NO rooster!” And now she got her own law that forbids more than 3 chickens and all the other animals she has. FAFO!
