Bloomfield Township Michigan Ordinace for Chickens

Hello all,
I'm a new member to the Backyard Chickens Community. Great site.

I have always wanted to raise chicks for eggs and also have them around the yard.
I was surprised by my wife and kids with the starter kit for raising the young pullets on my birthday last week.
We would be getting the new chicks this weekend starting out with #2 leghorns and #2 Issa Browns.
I decided to stopped by the Township Hall this morning and speak to the Ordinance person, as always not much of a personality.

Here are the requirements:
We don't allow chickens. Unless you have 40 acres.
So you need to get an Variance request $ 100.00 then a permission request $ 60.00 then $ 120.00 for the drawings to be reviewed for the coop. Then a $30.00 for the building inspections. Plus have the coop located with a 16' setback on the property.
Grand Total of $310.00.

The next thing is to go before the Board and tell them why you want to have chickens in your backyard. If they say no the $ 310.00 has been given to my Township. Plus I need to get my Subdivision to approve it and get my neighbor's who live on either side of my home to approve it.
The latter part I not concern with.
We all live on good size lots due to the septic fields, so there is room for the coop, without it being an issue.

I have read about the RTF and other bills, but can the Township request all these fee's for a chicken coop?
I know the answer just wanted to get some feedback from others.

Will this stop me from continuing the chicken coop or getting little chicks not sure yet.

The frustrating thing is long ago most of the Township was farm country or just open fields.

Thanks for reading,

FredofBurnley

Hello Fred!

I'm kinda in same boat as you w/wanting chickens in Greece,NY - suburb of Rochester,NY - which also used to be lots of farmland.

I'm still in paper process "please let me have 3-4 chickens" stage....so really can't give any advice -

but perhaps I can at least sympathize

I also have to pay about $130 to apply for the variance and I also had to pay $330 for a current map plot survey of my property to submit.

So I'm gonna be out nearly $500 and the Town of Greece could still say "nope"...and keep the $$$

Even though my boyfriend thinks I'm nuts - I'm still willing to go the distance in hopes of my garden chickens - and I'm also stressing to the Towne that they are PETS and that they are not going to be Free Ranging - no Roosters (noise volume/complaints) but instead be my garden helpers (composting, fertilizing, and eggs only) - PETS.

I've enlisted the help of the Carolina Chicken Coop Company (if they are still available) as a sort of "expert witness"...

Since I'm inexperienced w/keeping chickens as pets - I want to make sure when I address the Town of Greece folks - I have somebody on hand who KNOWS the right thing to say/answer questions - and can do it calmly and intelligently ....I'm afraid since I'm just a beginner - I might lose them by not knowing answers.

Not sure if this helps or not - but I'm also researching neighborhood towns/villages to find out who IS allowed to have chickens - and hopefully can use that as an argument if it comes to that.

good luck!
amanda

Fred,

I live in Troy and I'm going to try and get the ordinance changed there. Its not as strick as Bloomfield but still too restrictive. I have a FB group called Troy Michigan Backyard Chicken Movement if you want to follow my exploits

Drew

Everyone of those restrictions seem to be in conflict with state law. Not that local authorities want to comply with said state law.
I've been fighting my city for nearly a year now.

PM and we can discuss further.

Hi Fred,

I live on Burnley as well and am interested in getting a few chickens. Any new developments in your quest for chickens??

Thanks,
Kathryn

I received the approval from the Township last summer for the chicken coop.
Fresh eggs every day and they got through this winter with no problems. No heat from lamps were needed to get them through the bitter cold. Just plenty of ventilation and dry living space in the coop.

You need to get approvals from your neighbors both sides and the back, then if you have an subdivision association you need their approval. They will need to see your drawings and make sure the neighbors have signed off, if the Association doesn't approve it your kinda at a loss at that point.

If they sign off it, the next steps are.
You will need to get a variance from the Township which means you need to show them that you can accommodate the chickens and coop. Their is a cost for the variance then you will need to setup a meeting with the zoning board which meets every Monday or Tuesday of every month (check their schedules first).

The drawings will need to be presented and approved by the board prior to the board meeting, their is a cost to go in front of the board then if you get approval a building permit will need to be obtained by the township too.

Money is being exchanged to the Township at every turn.

If you decide to buy a ready made coop then I would submit the plans from that company who makes them. The Township will also come by and take pictures of the desired location of where the coop will be prior to the zoning board meeting.

The biggest hurdle is the location of the coop. It needs to be 16' from the set back of your property, (get your survey from your mortgage or the township may have it). This will also help you lay out the footprint of the coop area.
Hopefully you have an area where the coop will be somewhat discreet, especially during the winter time. Once you have the coop built they will inspect it and request you to put a natural screen in front of it.

Bottom line is that the Township was very helpful, make sure you have all the paperwork completed. Bring the neighbors that sign off on the drawings for support to the board meeting.
There is also a limit of birds you can have (4) and no roosters.

It's not worth going under the radar raising the hens, you won't enjoy them as much.

Uncle Luke's in Troy sells feed and straw for the birds.

We are thinking about moving to your area. The place we are looking at has 5 acres. You are saying that we need to go thru all this just to keep chickens?

Thank you for your time.

I think you should do it anyway and bring awareness to the want and need to keep things local. Michigan is so big on locally made or grown products that you could tell your neighbors and everyone that you'll give them eggs!!!