Looking for advice

[Solyn]

Hi everyone! I'm pretty new to the forums and still a bit shy, so go easy on me. Today I'm looking for some advice:

I do not currently have chickens. I want to change that in the future, but there's a couple road blocks in the way. The newest and most frustrating is the local ordinances, which are not freely available but you can hop on down to town hall and purchase your copy for only $10. -_-

I just found out that our little house with an acre in the country, which we purchased last year, is in fact within "city" limits. Needless to say, I was a bit surprised (as was my neighbor who's lived here for years) and decided to make sure they didn't have any odd limitations before going ahead with chickens. Not having free access to the ordinances, I called up town hall and was told all livestock must have 3+ acres, that includes chickens.

Does anyone have any insight as to why this might be? I would also like to point out that the next real city over (Dothan) is a handful of miles away and they allow chickens, yet here in the middle of agriculture, we can't have a small enclosed flock on less than 3 acres. I find it pretty silly, but am open to other logic.

I've been told by all my neighbors to get chickens anyway, but that doesn't sit right with me. What are the chances it would be worthwhile to speak with someone at town hall in person to double check the information was correct and to possibly discuss options?

Are there any residents around the Dothan area with experience dealing with the local small town politicians?

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I've been told by all my neighbors to get chickens anyway, but that doesn't sit right with me. What are the chances it would be worthwhile to speak with someone at town hall in person to double check the information was correct and to possibly discuss options?

Welcome to BYC!

Good for you.

I'm looking at the following link to see if I can find anything.. most ordinances are available online and some have exceptions and/or exclusions..

https://library.municode.com/al/dothan/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTIICOOR_CH10AN_ARTIIILIRAFO

ETA: It looks to me like they are allowed WITH specific restrictions which include NO free ranging, spacing of structures from property line, etc.

 

[Solyn]

To clarify, I'm not in Dothan city limits, where they are allowed. I was using that as a comparison. I'm within the city limits of a little town just a ways outside Dothan.

 

[Tonyroo]

Use the link and retype the town your actually in.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I would call animal control, code enforcement, or your local agriculture department instead of trusting one city official working at the town hall.. they are often misinformed and/or have a personal agenda.

 

[Solyn]

On the linked site, I looked at the list of all Alabama cities and it isn't on the list. I have also done other web searches for the ordinances, but the only reference I can find is on the town site, where it says you can purchase them.

 

[RoyalChick]

I really know nothing about this, but it seems to me absurd that you cannot read the ordinances without paying - after all, you are expected to abide by them!
Might they be available in a library maybe?

 

[Solyn]

So, we recently went to the town hall hoping to read the ordinances for ourselves, but the lady insisted on knowing what we were looking for and instead of just letting us peruse one of the books, decided to "help" us by repeating the 3 acre minimum. We were also introduced to another person there who said that we could apply for a special permit but it would require fees, paperwork, and that he'd instantly deny the permit anyway because it's against the rules, which were put in place back in 2007 and apparently can't be changed. When I asked questions, I was not given actual answers. They danced around the discussion and kept simply saying it's against rules. Another annoyance was when they told in such self-congratulatory tones how they took a lady's chickens from her not too long ago.

We didn't purchase a copy of the ordinance book because we didn't have $10 cash on us and they are too low-tech for cards. I do plan to get a copy in the near future, though.

Before we left, we were told that we could attend the town council meeting on Monday, if we wanted, but it was said in that way that makes you know that the words they didn't bother to say were "...but it won't do any good".

So, if this is the general mentality of the local government, how do you even begin to reason with such close-mindedness? How do you fight against small-town tyranny?

 

[Tonyroo]

Sounds like you have to move to a chicken friendly town. If you still wanted chickens.

People like that are rigid about there ways and think they speak for the whole town. Some rules need to be revised since life in general is constantly changing and it need to be relevant to the present day.

 

[Solyn]

Sadly, moving is much more easily said than done. Trust me, right about now I'd be thrilled to scamper off, but it's just not in the cards.

Edited to add:
I'm preparing some pro-chicken arguments in case I can find a willing ear that will hear me out. I'm hoping they aren't all jerks on the council.