Greenwood Indiana, lets make a change!

Hey there fellow Backyard Chicken Farmers! I live in the Indy area, more specifically the city of Greenwood. Back in February of this year we received 5 chicks through a friend who had ordered a couple dozen in an order. After we raised them for about a month in the garage we had a work acquaintance from Mooresville who built a very nice 4x8ft coop but soon found out their city doesn't allow folks to own Chickens and asked if we would be interested in taking it. Of course we accepted the offer and got it moved into our backyard last month (what a job!).

We thought we read all the laws and city ordinances for Greenwood but it turned out we missed the zoning section about livestock and have received a violation notice last week. My zoning board says they could possibly give us a variance since we have just a few chickens, but the Greenwood Department of Public Works and Safety apparently has a ban on “Barnyard Fowl” as well and seem to be at a standstill. I have contacted the Indiana Board of Health asking for information about the health and safety of people owning chickens in an urban environment (1/4 acre lots). I've yet to hear anything back.

Well our Chicken party was over before it began. I’m looking for support and information from others who successfully swayed their city government against chicken discrimination and gave the property owners the option of raising a few birds for self sustaining, educational purposes, or if nothing else than a few laughs. Hopefully we can get my city educated about the benefits of a few backyard Hens and the fact that they cause no harm to the community.

I see there is lengthy thread on here dedicated to Indiana BYC, so I’m going to post there too. Just thought I’d introduce myself here and see if there might be others dealing with the same issue.

-Matt and Carrie
Greenwood, IN

Hey, I live just on the outskirts of Greenwood (about a 5 minute drive from the county line) and have been back and forth on this debate for a while too. Apparently Indy has no problem with it but this is the first I've heard of Greenwood, after looking off and on for several months. If you do sort out what all you need to do to change the laws, let me know what I can do to help! I think it's just absurd that we can't have a few chickens.
Katie

Hello Katie! Thank you for your reply. We are at the Main St and Arlington area. So we went to the Greenwood public works and safety meeting followed by the city council meeting. It was good to put a face to the names. We talked to the city zoning Ed Ferguson. He basically said they talked amongst themselves in the office as urban farming is becoming more common and said basically what the other person told me, good luck.

So we may have an uphill battle, but the more Greenwood folks we can get on board the better. We are writing a letter to our city councilman to see if we might be able to get something moving.

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I just built a very nice chicken coop that blended into my house, positioned to not be seen from the road, and a pen to keep them away from the constantly barking neighbor dogs.

I have been working on my set-up for a week at least and finally got the chickens yesterday at about 12:00. Today at 8:30am Greenwood code enforcement showed up saying I had 10 days to get rid of the chickens. They said someone called. I checked all the regs and didn't find anything before I started on this. Well as you found out there is one sentence saying that poultry was not allowed in Greenwood. and it is not enforced unless there is a complaint. Funny thing is that when the officer was here he turned the paper to "accidently" show me who called.... So now I know. and they are the ones with 2 dogs that never shut-up. Chickens do nothing. they are not loud, when people take care of them they are not dirty.

I am pretty ****** at this woman right now as you can tell.

What can we do to make this change? I am in all the way

Josh List

Ok, This is something else I found that may help our cause.

This is the section they have sited for the ordinance:


Sec. 6-17 Keeping Livestock or Poultry Prohibited.
No person shall keep any livestock or poultry within the City. (Code 1968, § 4.05; 1983 Greenwood
Municipal Code, § 3-1)

Now what is the definition of poultry?

poul·try

/ˈpōltrē/

Noun
Domestic fowl, such as chickens.

So based on this homes may not possess a parakeet or any other bird.... I would almost bet that some of the people on the board own a bird..

Someday said:

I just built a very nice chicken coop that blended into my house, positioned to not be seen from the road, and a pen to keep them away from the constantly barking neighbor dogs.

I have been working on my set-up for a week at least and finally got the chickens yesterday at about 12:00. Today at 8:30am Greenwood code enforcement showed up saying I had 10 days to get rid of the chickens. They said someone called. I checked all the regs and didn't find anything before I started on this. Well as you found out there is one sentence saying that poultry was not allowed in Greenwood. and it is not enforced unless there is a complaint. Funny thing is that when the officer was here he turned the paper to "accidently" show me who called.... So now I know. and they are the ones with 2 dogs that never shut-up. Chickens do nothing. they are not loud, when people take care of them they are not dirty.

I am pretty ****** at this woman right now as you can tell.

What can we do to make this change? I am in all the way

Josh List

Click to expand...

Josh,

I completely understand your frustrations and hope that the Municipal Code can soon be changed with your help among other Greenwood residents.

Do you have a friend/family member in the Indianapolis or Franklin area that can temporarily keep your chickens for you until this issue is resolved? There are no restrictions in these areas that I know if. I'm currently building a Chicken Tractor for my parents house on the south side so I can move them over there and Greenwood will have nothing to complain about.

Below are the two areas in the Municipal Code that prevents us from having chickens. We need to overcome these and then it'll only be up to a HOA in the way for some people.


ZONING, PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT

AGRICULTURE. [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]The tilling of soil, the raising of crops, forestry, horticulture and gardening, keeping and raising of fowls and domestic animals and livestock, including horses and any agricultural industry such as dairies or similar uses.

LIVESTOCK. [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Generally accepted outdoor farm animals (i. e., cows, goats, horses, pigs, barnyard fowl, etc.), not to include domestic animals. [/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Chapter 13; Table A and Table D, livestock is only allowed in Zone SF and AG. (So if you're in any other Zone like PUD it’s illegal to have chickens.)[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]
[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]____________________________________

(Board of Public Works and Safety)[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]
SAFETY DEPARTMENTS AND REGULATIONS[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]
Sec. 6-17 Keeping Livestock or Poultry Prohibited.
[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]No person shall keep any livestock or poultry within the City. ([/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Code [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]1968, § 4.05; 1983 [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Greenwood Municipal Code[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman], § 3-1) [/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman] [/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]
[/FONT][/FONT]

[/FONT][/FONT]

I got the chickens from a friend of mine. I already gave them back to him. He will let me have as many as I want whenever I want them. However for now I am going to try and sell my coop and all accessories until chickens are allowed in Greenwood. This whole thing stems from people not being educated on chickens and everything they help. The code official claimed that this is from the "Mexicans" keeping chickens at their house and letting them run a-muck in the neighborhoods.

All I have left is trimming the coop out then it will all be ready to sell. I will post pictures of it when I complete it.

My 10 year old son was devastated when I told him we had to take the chickens back after having them for less than 24 hours.

My story now, if the tattle telling neighbors ask, is that I killed the chickens because I was required to dispose of them. Maybe placing 4 lives on their shoulders will make some sort of guilt happen for them. I still have not ruled out starting a feud in the neighborhood and reporting their yippy yappy dogs. Either that or I keep the coop, find some fake chickens, place them in the yard moving them around from time to time and playing rooster soundtracks from dawn to dusk....

I am 600' away from the city limits toward the west.

I completely agree. It sounds like the code official needs educated too.

We got our chicks from a hatchery, named them all, got the coop, and then find that out we had to get rid of them.


Katie, Josh, and anyone else who might be reading this... Please like our Greenwood Chicken Page on facebook and share it with everyone you can. We will be posting photos, info, and updates on there.

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Page link

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenwood-Chickens/548814128490487

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Quote: poul·try

/ˈpōltrē/

Noun
Domestic fowl, such as chickens.

So based on this homes may not possess a parakeet or any other bird.... I would almost bet that some of the people on the board own a bird..

A parakeet would not fit the definition of poultry because it is not a domestic bird that is typically raised for its meat or for its eggs. Chickens are technically considered livestock. Usually the neighborhood covenants and the people that live close by are the main hurdles with keeping chickens. I am not sure how much land you have but if you can get it rezoned as AG (agriculture) then you are golden. Your county assessor can tell you what is needed to be zoned AG. Probably only possible if you live on a county road or have a little land then this can be done even if you are within the city limits. Hope this Helps!