Barberton and Norton, Ohio

[isaacsmommy104]

Sorry I hadn't got back! The friend in question has moved her chickens to her parents residence in Norton after finding rat poison cubes inside and around her chicken coop. She had several small bantams and had received a notice telling her to remove the chickens within 5 days or she would be taken to court. Less than 2 days after receiving that she found the rat poison. Very upsetting and not a great representation of Barberton. I will pass on your info to her though. Keep me updated on how it goes! I think that chickens are domesticated household pets! Ask a Serama owner! lol!

 

[OhioPete]

Quote:
Wow, that's quite disturbing to hear! Too bad they didn't catch the person that did that

 

[isaacsmommy104]

It was extremely upsetting. Who does stuff like that?

 

[louislinus]

I am working on changing the law in Kent. I definitely agree with your interpretation of the law. And really Barberton is k own for its chicken. Of all places you'd think it'd be okay there.

Nice to see some local folks. My groups website is http://cluckentoh.webs.com/.

 

[ohiolocal]

I am also in Barberton and am planning to get chickens. I would like to work with fellow chicken owners to changet he code. In the meantime, I am moving forward with my plan and will raise them illegally. Any helpful info regarding how to go about changing the ordinance in town would be helpful.

 

[tsunshine]

Hi. I'm new to the forum and was trying to find out if I can rais chickens in my back yard.... I am right on the norton/ barberton line right around the cleve-mass rd and wooster rd intersection... I havent been able to find anything on if we can have chickens or not... so whats the word on backyard chickens in this area.....

 

[ohiolocal]

It depends on if you are in Norton or Barberton. Barberton's zoning board has ruled that chickens are against the code. To my knowledge, Norton allows them. (although I'd check) A lot of people in Barberton have them and the board knows this.I'm not one of them because our annoying neighbor through a fit at the mere idea!! It seems that if you have them in a larger yard and no one complains you can get away with it. However, if there is a complaint, you will have to get rid of them unless the code(or their interpretation of it) changes.

 

[Talanna]

Im not too far from you, but out of the city limits. I am just curious how this turned out. You made some great points with the ferrets!

 

[patty64]

I live in Norton. This is an old farming community and many people have chickens. I see many people even in neighborhoods with smaller lots having small coops. There are people on 261 near Easton who sell coops. Also, there are some farms with free range chickens and turkeys. The animal ordinance in Norton, (Section 6) says nothing about chickens. The real problem with urban chickens is they quit laying after a while and all you get for your trouble is chicken droppings. Think twice. Many people are abandoning their urban chickens and it is creating a big rescue problem.

 

[BluePolish5]

It just so happens that I live in Barberton and I'm in the process of appealing a notice from the Building Department that I remove my chickens from my property here in the city. According to the city's interpretation of the law, I am not allowed to have chickens in the city. According to my interpretation, the law is too vague and doesn't prohibit chickens.

Check out the language I found in the Barberton Development Code and make your own decision. I can't say anything about Norton since I haven't researched their laws. But the man who sold me my chickens lives in Norton and has many dozens of chickens.

Here's the BDC language:
1140.01 Accessory Uses and Projections
(a) General Provisions
(4) Only "Domestic Animals" as defined in Chapter 1360 shall be permitted on Residential Single-Family, Two-
Family and Multi-Family lots, Zoning Code District, RA, RS, RT and RM.
(Ord. 157-2003. Passed 12-15-03.)

1360 defines a "domestic animal" as:
(58) Domestic Animal:
A cat, dog, or other small animal of the types commonly maintained as household pets.

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If you interpret a domestic chicken (Domesticus Gallus Gallus) to be in violation of this law because it is not specifically permitted, would you then also have to say that ferrets, rabbits, mice, hamsters, lizards, parrots and any other animal that isn't a cat or dog to also be in violation? That is a bit absurd, in my opinion. Who defines what a common household pet is? Is a ferret permitted and a fish prohibited? Mammals okay but birds and reptiles are not? When you don't define something, who decides what the intent of the law was?

I cited this web site, among many others, and several recent newspaper articles, as evidence that chickens ARE common household pets. Tens of thousands of people keep chickens as pets. I believe that makes them both a small animal and a "common" household pet.

Send me a private email. I'd like to get in touch with your friend if they live in Barberton so that perhaps we can cooperate on addressing this issue. I've got a June 16 zoning appeal hearing and I wouldn't mind having some support.

Hello did you ever get this resolved? I’m currently dealing with this exact same situation