chickens in westchester county ny, (yonkers)

[luciarx1]

hi there! i am new to this and am wondering if anyone knows if raising chickens in yonkers,ny is allowed. is a certain lot size needed? i have been unsuccessful in finding this information online and no-one at the county level is calling me back. we want to raise them just for eggs! thanks so much.

 

[Cat Water]

Your town is called Yonkers? That is so cool! I personally don't know about the laws in Yonkers, but if you can't find anything, even after intense studying, then there must not be a law in Yonkers about chickens.

 

[Carolyn252]

Quote:
At this website: http://www.yonkersny.gov/Index.aspx?page=26#1517 you can find this question:

Q: What codes does the City of Yonkers use? And the answer found there states:

A: The City of Yonkers enforces the Yonkers Zoning Ordinance (which took effect on December 9, 2000), the Municipal Codes of the City of Yonkers (with regards to Building, Housing, Plumbing & Fire), and the Codes of New York State [2007 edition] (which took effect January 1, 2008). It is worth noting that the codes that are enforced by the Department are minimum standards, which have been adopted to protect you and your interests.

I'll try and dig deeper and see if I can find anything about keeping poultry.

 

[Carolyn252]

Quote:
At this website: http://www.yonkersny.gov/Index.aspx?page=26#1517 you can find this question:

Q: What codes does the City of Yonkers use? And the answer found there states:

A: The City of Yonkers enforces the Yonkers Zoning Ordinance (which took effect on December 9, 2000), the Municipal Codes of the City of Yonkers (with regards to Building, Housing, Plumbing & Fire), and the Codes of New York State [2007 edition] (which took effect January 1, 2008). It is worth noting that the codes that are enforced by the Department are minimum standards, which have been adopted to protect you and your interests.

I'll try and dig deeper and see if I can find anything about keeping poultry.

OKAY: I DUG DEEPER, and found THE CODE OF THE CITY OF YONKERS, NY at http://gcp.esub.net/cgi-bin/om_isapi.dll?clientID=57603&infobase=yo0144.nfo&softpage=Browse_Frame_Pg42

Under the section called: PART VII, NUISANCES, PUBLIC WELFARE AND CRIMINAL, there is Chapter 65, ANIMALS AND DOGS. It talks mainly about dogs, but in subsection23 it says:

§ 65-23. Keeping of poultry or other birds. [Added 7-3-1990 by L.L. No. 6-1990]

No person shall keep, cause or allow to be kept on, in or about any premises or property any poultry, fowl or other birds, except as hereinafter provided:

A.It shall be lawful to keep for purposes of sale live poultry in a live poultry market.

B.It shall be lawful to keep for purposes of sale at mercantile establishments lovebirds, canaries, parakeets and other birds of similar variety where the keeping of such does not constitute a health nuisance.

C.It shall be lawful to keep lovebirds, canaries, parakeets and other birds of similar variety as domestic pets where the keeping of such does not constitute a health nuisance.

THERE IS ALSO: http://gcp.esub.net/cgi-bin/om_isapi.dll?clientID=57603&advquery=fowl&infobase=yo0144.nfo&rank=&record={3BA9}&softpage=Browse_Frame_Pg42&zz=

which lists prohibited activities and that list includes the raising or livestock or fowl :

CODE OF THE CITY OF YONKERS, NEW YORK (updated 10-20-2009, Supplement No. 14)
PART V, LAND USE
Chapter 43, ZONING
ARTICLE V, Use and Dimensional Regulations
§ 43-28. Prohibited uses.

When I did a search for "coop", I got the code relating to pigeon coops: http://gcp.esub.net/cgi-bin/om_isapi.dll?clientID=57603&advquery=coop&infobase=yo0144.nfo&rank=&record={69B9}&softpage=Browse_Frame_Pg42&zz=

There are also codes listed for obtaining a special use permit application.

I'm just reporting what I found; I'm not drawing any conclusions. That's for you to do.

 

[luciarx1]

this really stinks for us.
it seems there are no exceptions and that it is prohibited here. thanks so much for digging so deep for me.
my husband is going to be soooooooooo upset!

 

[catherineTudor]

I know of many people keeping chickens in Yonkers. If you have nice neighbors who are not going to call the city on you for keeping chickens you shouldn't have a problem. As long as everything is kept clean and there are no rodent issues because food is left accessible to vermin and you have no roosters you should be ok. ehem .... speaking from experience!

 

[AJ115]

I know of many people keeping chickens in Yonkers. If you have nice neighbors who are not going to call the city on you for keeping chickens you shouldn't have a problem. As long as everything is kept clean and there are no rodent issues because food is left accessible to vermin and you have no roosters you should be ok. ehem .... speaking from experience!

We have a 6ft fence so neighbors are unable to see in our yard, would there be any other reason that they'd know we have chickens? We are thinking of getting 3 for egg laying.

 

[Retiredfinally]

Hi Catherine,
I live in Yonkers and would like to keep just 3 hens for egg laying also. I have a 6 foot fence also but neighbors on their second floor can look down into my yard. I am concerned that my neighbors would call the city on me
I would be concerned if the clucking of the happy hens would be heard by the neighbors opposed to the few chickens.
I am so upset when my coworkers in the Bronx are permitted to have chickens on their residence and Yonkers does not allow a few chickens just for egg laying purposes.
No matter, I will be retiring soon and will be moving out of Yonkers.

 

[NYVINCHENZ]

Hi Catherine,
I live in Yonkers and would like to keep just 3 hens for egg laying also. I have a 6 foot fence also but neighbors on their second floor can look down into my yard. I am concerned that my neighbors would call the city on me
I would be concerned if the clucking of the happy hens would be heard by the neighbors opposed to the few chickens.
I am so upset when my coworkers in the Bronx are permitted to have chickens on their residence and Yonkers does not allow a few chickens just for egg laying purposes.
No matter, I will be retiring soon and will be moving out of Yonkers.

So you have people living above you are you rent were you live? Because if you owned the property you would have control of the people on the second floor .

 

[townchicks]

Chickens are not quiet. They are not noisy all the time, but when they are, your neighbors will know you have them. I can hear the chickens that live behind us and the chickens that live two houses down. I'm sure they hear mine, too. Maybe talk to your neighbors first, they may not mind.