Chicken LORE Project - Find & Submit Local Chicken Laws & Ordinances

[Coopa Cabana]

Quote:
hmarks, kudos to you for checking into your local ordinances before you get your chickens. I would suggest a couple of things first: Make sure you are reading the correct ordinances for your location - your town, or, if you are in an unincorporated area, your County. Also, be sure you know exactly how your property is zoned. And sometimes Homeowners Association regs can trump the city regs.

Even if you are allowed to have chickens, some ordinances require property set-backs for the housing, etc. And of course you need to know if you can keep roosters or not. And you may be limited as to the number of birds you can have depending on your lot size.

And, should you be 100% legal in keeping your chickens, they can sometimes get you with a noise ordinance - especially if you have roosters. So, lastly, it's always best to keep your neighbors in the loop so there are no complaints. Assure them you will keep your site odor-free and clean so as to not attract flies, that your birds will be housed securely so as to not attract predators to the neighborhood, that noise will be kept to a minimum, and of course offer them fresh eggs!!

I hope that helps, and welcome to BYC!

 

[redfeather]

Alright!

Hope I entered it O.K. I didn't do it before because I couldn't find the link/figure out how to do it. It's there now though.

 

[Laigaie]

For folks in my area who go searching, there's not much info put into the form-link for the LORE project, but in Fayetteville AR, our ordinance states:

" It shall be lawful for any person to keep, permit or allow any fowl within the corporate limits of the city in all Residential zones under the following terms and conditions:
(1) The principal use of the property shall be a single family dwelling. No fowl shall be allowed in multi-family complexes, including two-family and three-family dwellings.
(2) No more than four (4) hens shall be allowed for each single-family dwelling.
(3) No roosters shall be allowed.
(4) There shall be no outside slaughtering of hens.
(5) All hens must be kept in a secure, fenced enclosure constructed with a minimum area of 100 square feet. All hens shall be kept in the side or rear yard, and may not be permitted in the front yard area.
(6) A chicken coop/roost area shall not be located closer than twenty-five (25) feet to any residential structure on an adjacent lot, and shall meet building setbacks.
(7) Enclosures must be kept in a neat and sanitary condition at all times, and must be cleaned on a regular basis so as to prevent offensive odors, attraction of flies or vermin, the creation of an environment otherwise injurious to the public health and safety, or that would obstruct the free use of property so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property by members of the neighborhood, city, or other persons.
(8) Fowl currently existing in the city shall not be "grandfathered" or permitted to remain after the effective date of this Ordinance.
(9) The City may further restrict the use of fowl within residential districts if it causes a public nuisance or public health issue as defined in City Codes.
(10) All regulations administered by the Animal Services Division shall be enforceable by law, and this ordinance shall not supersede or replace any regulation thereof"

 

[cmwensell]

Anyone have any ideas for getting some Zoning Ordinances changed? I am in Clay County Florida living in Middleburg; however in my subdivision chickens are not allowed according to the county, no homeowners association here. But a mile away the town switches to Orange Park, same county, and chickens are fine in residential neighborhoods. I need ideas for getting this changed.

Thanks
Chris

 

[Coopa Cabana]

Quote:
Hi Chris,
I made the below thread several months ago specifically to address this. There are a lot of different links in the first post to help get you started. (Hopefully all the links still work.) I hope this helps you, and best of luck.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=316045

 

[cbrown86]

Ok, I am confused how to put my city on here. But I found the ordinance for ours.

 

[Coopa Cabana]

Quote:
Hi, here is the link to the Submission page:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/laws/submit.php

Hopefully, it's self-explanatory. Just fill in the top section, and towards the bottom, attach the direct url link to the ordinance. It is also extremely helpful if you will be sure and add contact info - the phone number of whoever at your local town administration the reader can contact if they have more specific questions.

If you have any questions about completing the Submission page, just come back here and ask.

And thank your for contributing to the L.O.R.E. project!

 

[melinda342]

Does anybody know anything about Lakeway, Tx? it is a city near Austin.

 

[Coopa Cabana]

Quote:
I think I may have found it for you:

http://z2.franklinlegal.net/lakeway-flp/

 

[melinda342]

thank you. o well. its illegal to have chickens in lakeway

im not getting rid of george (my rooster) though