Anyone in Santa Rosa County Florida?

[kfisher]

I am trying to find out if Im allowed to keep chickens. I cant find anything online but Im not sure if I just don't know what to seach for. Also the HOA I live in has this posted in their covenants "No animals other than common accepted domestic pets shall be kept on any lot. Domestic pets shall not include horses, and the number of pets permitted shall be reasonable." But I don't know if chickens would be considered "common accepted domestic pets" or not. Can anyone help?

 

[Komaki]

Chickens ARE domestic and also common pets.

 

[chickenboots]

Chickens are allowed in most of Santa Rosa County, but if you live in a neighborhood with a homeowners association My guess would be they are not allowed. I would start with the HOA. I think their rules will override county zoning as far as animals are concerned. Sorry....Hope this helps.

 

[kfisher]

Quote:
That's what I was thinking but searched the covenants to see if it said was was considered common and it didnt have a list, and it only says its cant be a horse...
We live on half an acre with a 6' privacy fence so I'm thinking as long as I keep them within my fence no one will ever know. My neighbors beside me already know and their 9 y/o will be taking care of them when we go out of town its just my other 2 neighbors that touch our fence but they seem very friendly...

 

[minnow]

Hey y'all. I'm new to chicken ownership (as of this spring), and I have been sniffing around on the web, trying to find documentation pertaining to Santa Rosa County, Florida's laws and ordinances pertaining to chicken ownership. Here's some useful info that I've found. If you have any links to actual legal documents that spell out our county's (or city's) regulations, feel free to reply.


Regarding Animal Nuisances:
http://library.municode.com/HTML/12...ARTIIANCO.html#COCO_CH4AN_ARTIIANCO_S4-37ANCO

Of particular interest is Sec. 4-37.g:
Animal nuisances prohibited. For purposes of this section, the term "animal" shall also include fowl, except in agriculturally zoned districts. Any animal or animals that habitually or continuously bark, howl, make noise, or otherwise disturb the peace and quiet of the inhabitants of Santa Rosa County or are kept or maintained in such a manner or in such numbers as to disturb by noxious or offensive odors or otherwise endanger the health and welfare of the inhabitants of Santa Rosa County are declared to be an animal nuisance. Furthermore, animals who damage private property or shall be deemed to create a nuisance. Any person who keeps, harbors, or maintains an animal nuisance as defined above shall be guilty of a civil infraction and punishable as provided in section 4-44 of this article.

The Estate Residential District

There is a district zoning called "Estate Residential District", and it expressly forbids the keeping of livestock or fowl. Here's a link to the county's brochure: http://www.santarosa.fl.gov/developmentservices/brochures/er.pdf , and here is a link to the actual code: http://library.municode.com/HTML/12483/level3/COCO_APXCLADECO_ART6LAUSTYDEINONRECO.html

6.05 11-ER:
L. Livestock: The keeping of livestock or fowl shall not be permitted in the Estate Residential district.

What zone do I live in, and what is allowed in that zone?

One of the most useful sites I have uncovered thus far is a concise list of all of the zoning codes. You can click on any zone for our county, and it'll pull up a searchable document of the codes for that zone (and some other ones, too). Because we don't all live in the same zones, we can't make blanket statements about what is permitted and what's not. Click the link below, and then click "LDC Article" next to the specific zone you live in.

http://www.santarosa.fl.gov/developmentservices/quickinfo.cfm

The best way to search these documents is to use your internet browser's "Find on this page" feature. It allows you to type in a term (like "livestock" for instance), and then search for that term within the document you happen to be browsing.

And THIS MAP shows every zone in the county. It is very easy to ascertain from this map which zone you live in. http://www.santarosa.fl.gov/developmentservices/documents/zoningmap.pdf

I reside in an R-1 (Single Family Residential District), so I am governed by the restrictions contained in here: http://www.santarosa.fl.gov/developmentservices/documents/06b Article 6.05.00 - 6.05.10.pdf . Particularly, it does not forbid raising chickens for my personal use. It does, however, indicate that I cannot raise them commercially in this zone by failing to list such activities in the "Conditional Uses" section. This means that I should not raise chickens and engage in the sale or trade of chickens or their products (or by-products).

Homeowners Associations (Neighborhood Covenants and Restrictions)

Additionally, homeowners associations (HOAs) in neighborhoods may have more stringent restrictions that further limit what you can and can't do on your property. Perhaps the County's Property Appraiser office will have record of your neighborhood HOA's covenants and restrictions. Their number is 850-983-1880.

If documentation in this thread grows substantially, one of us may wish to consider creating another more concise thread or page to help out other backyard chicken owners in our county.

Take care.

-joel

 

[SigningChickens]

I'm in Pace. I just started with 2 pullets. I hope I'm ok!

 

[Penton]

If you check the SRCPA.org site (Santa Rosa County Property Appraiser) and search for your property by address, you can tell how you are zoned. Your parcel number is broken down to indicate different things. If the 7th through 10th number are all zeros, I was told you are zoned for anything as far as animals go. I was also told by the woman at the administration building that there are no ordinaces against chickens UNLESS your HOA specifically forbids it. That said, if you have an HOA, you are the homeowner and can start lobbying the other homeowners to allow for chickens. Of course, it always helps to educate others about backyard flocks and have some rules which everyone can agree on (like no roosters, only so many chickens per lot size, coop regulations, etc.). Check your zoning. Good luck!

 

[Penton]

Joel, thanks for all the research you did. I did call down to the administration offices to speak with the person in zoning. I was told that chickens aren't "regulated" in SR Co. Of course, there are things which are related to chickens which are regulated (such as noise and if they become a health issue, etc.). How many chickens do you keep? I also live in Pace and tried to see if there was a way to find the other backyard flocks in Pace. It might be time to start a Pace Poultry Page

 

[Penton]

I'm in Pace, too. Do you still have only two hens and if so, are you getting eggs yet? I haven't gotten any eggs yet from my hens.

 

[planemech]

If you do start a Pace Poultry Page, count me in! I live just nort of the Pace soccer field.