Baltimore City construction /zoning permit for chickens

[fanofchickens]

I have learned that my 17,800 square foot yard in Baltimore City allows me to keep up to 10 hens per the city chicken regulations. However, before installing a chicken coop (whether purchased already made or built myself), I have to have a permit from the city construction/building office and for that they will make sure my "site plan" meets zoning rules. Due to my property being a corner lot, zoning requires the coop to be 140' from my front property line, 25' from my side property line, and 25' from my back property line. Remarkably, this means my nearly 1/2 acre lot is actually 6' too short for me to meet those requirements and would require a variance involving a $100 application fee, posting a large written notice on my property, and attending a hearing which would be a 4-6 week process. This is in addition to the one time, $80 permit required by animal control (luckily not per chicken). Also, apparently the approval would only be given for the initial location of the coop and so when I then move the coop around the yard per the city animal control chicken keeping regulations (to prevent manure build up), I would then no longer be keeping the coop per my approved zoning permit. All this is very important when you have basically all front and side yard (already violating the requirement that all "accessory structures" be located in the backyard) and a nasty woman who lives nearby who likes to report any yard violation to the city citation department (4 so far). Oh and by the way, keeping rabbits in the city also requires the $80 permit but the hutch - often the same size as a chicken coop given that the coop is required to be movable which limits how big of one you could have - does NOT require a permit from the construction/building office (per the animal control regulations) however according to zoning it would because anything you build or put on your property including your average dog house would require a permit.

 

[HeritageGoose13]

That sounds really complicated. What are you planning to do?

If you have a garage, you could raise coturnix quail indoors. Many people do this in cities where chickens are outlawed or not feasible.

 

[fanofchickens]

Not sure. So far I've emailed a contact person at city animal control whose contact I found on the website for the urban farm alliance and have left a message for someone in construction permits. I feel that since both coops and rabbit hutches are required to be mobile that they should be exempt from zoning code.

 

[HeritageGoose13]

Good luck and keep all of us on here updated!

 

[soundgardeners]

Hi, we're in Baltimore City too, and I can't see that something mobile would need zoning approval. We bought a coop (with wheels) and are going to start building the run and getting our chickens (we can have up to 10 also, but are going to start and probably stay with 6).

Elsa