City vs. County ordinances

[moodlymoo]

I have a friend who lives in a county where you are allowed to keep chickens and the little city which is inside the county lines is trying to pass a law banning chickens. Does she really have to get rid of them since the county says she can have them?

 

[AVIDHOMESTEAD123]

The best thing for your friend to do is get some like minded supporters and go before the city council to argue that the law SHOULD NOT BE PASSED. There are TONS of websites that extol the virtues of chickens (such as this one). It takes GETTING ACTIVE and a good bit of PERSONAL time invested to prevent laws that are unfair or prohibitive. Furthermore, if your friend is in the COUNTY outside of the city limits, than the law may not apply to her anyway. CHECK the zoning classifications and rules that may apply to your community to find out for sure. We are proposing urban and suburban chicken laws be adopted here in Brevard County Florida. You can check out more of what we are doing at avidhomestead dot com. GOOD LUCK!

ANYTHING WORTH HAVING IS WORTH FIGHTING FOR!

 

[pips&peeps]

If she has the birds before the ban passes, she is "grandfathered in" and should be able to keep her birds.

 

[dainerra]

pips&peeps :

If she has the birds before the ban passes, she is "grandfathered in" and should be able to keep her birds.

this is only true if that fact is included in the law. Otherwise she can go to court to fight it and may/not win and get to keep the birds. Other ordinances will specifically forbid grandfathering in existing animals.

OP, yes, she will have to follow the laws for the city if she is within it's limits. Before the law is changed is the best time to present a solid NON-EMOTIONAL case. Give facts besides "oh chickens are so cute and cuddly and very sweet" Point out studies that show that pets can be good for your health. Provide photos/videos of her clean coop and yard. Talk about being able to provide your own eggs, etc etc Show positive impacts from owning the birds.

Also, ask why they are considering the change. Perhaps they have mis-informed ideas about rat infestations and the stench of manure? If she is willing, maybe she could even have them come by and see her set-up and that it's none of those things?

Good luck to her!​

 

[mountanaman]

if she is withing the city/village boundary, she must adhere to the proposed city/village ordinance (if passed). county land use laws and ordinances apply to unincorporated areas, so it is immaterial in this case.

 

[moodlymoo]

I will update, the mayor of said city who is passing the law refuses to allow her to keep them. We live in Multnomah county and in the city of Portland Oregon. This city is called Maywood Park. It has less than 200 people in the city and said city is only about 3 blocks wide by 5 blocks long. It is really quite a joke. It turns out she is not the only one in this little city who owns chickens. There are 4 homes who own chickens. She is trying but this mayor is like the popular kids in school with his counsel and the families with chickens are the geeky kids. How can I help her? I live across the street from her and thankfully I am not inside this cities boundaries.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
She needs to find out WHY they are considering banning them. She also needs to see what if anything is already on the books about non-conforming uses (grandfathering). Once they know what the real issues are, and whether there are grandfathering provisions, and specifically what they are, she and her fellow poultry keepers can do one of several things.

1) Become part of the solution by volunteering to help write the provisions for new ordinances/zoning code. I would suggest that they focus on actual nuisances, not the CAUSE of any particular nuisance. (focus on noise, odor, etc., not on chickens, or anything else that is simply the cause) That puts the onus on those who are creating actual nuisances rather than on everyone who happens to match some demographic of that person.

2) Start a grass-roots movement to get the other 196 residents to decry the change and support continuing to allow backyard poultry. This may be by holding meeting/rallies, or by getting numerous signatures on petitions, or ...

 

[moodlymoo]

Quote:
She needs to find out WHY they are considering banning them. She also needs to see what if anything is already on the books about non-conforming uses (grandfathering). Once they know what the real issues are, and whether there are grandfathering provisions, and specifically what they are, she and her fellow poultry keepers can do one of several things.

1) Become part of the solution by volunteering to help write the provisions for new ordinances/zoning code. I would suggest that they focus on actual nuisances, not the CAUSE of any particular nuisance. (focus on noise, odor, etc., not on chickens, or anything else that is simply the cause) That puts the onus on those who are creating actual nuisances rather than on everyone who happens to match some demographic of that person.

2) Start a grass-roots movement to get the other 196 residents to decry the change and support continuing to allow backyard poultry. This may be by holding meeting/rallies, or by getting numerous signatures on petitions, or ...

If she follows county law she is covered but the county said if her "city" creates a law she has to follow it. Her "city" has nothing stating anything about chickens/poultry/livestock or anything close

 

[avidhomestead]

If she follows county law she is covered but the county said if her "city" creates a law she has to follow it. Her "city" has nothing stating anything about chickens/poultry/livestock or anything close

This may be a case where the city has adopted the county's ordinances/laws where animals are concerned. I did a quick search and can not find any code/ordinances for Maywood Park. Checking their web site at http://www.cityofmaywoodpark.com/ left me a bit bewildered since it only seems to be updated occasionally with no useful information about this law being considered.

I may be wrong about this but my gut feeling says this is someone (elected official?) throwing their weight around because, well, they think they can. Since the city is small (population less than 1000 per that wiki site) and I don't see any way to obtain information other than to go through somone in the Mayor's Office it just adds to that gut feeling.

If this is the case then here's a suggestion- they don't appear to have a lot funds to play with so should they attempt to move it forward your friend should raise a big stink about this through a grass roots/petition as suggested but make it a financial argument against it as well as the benefits of having chickens. The argument might go something like this: If the city creates laws more restrictive than the county then the burden of enforcing said laws falls onto the city which will likely mean a need to hire additional staff which may result in an increase in property tax or however this city is funded but the bottom line is the residents will likely pay more - just the way it is when enforcement activities move from the county to the city level. This makes the argument personal for the residents since they may have to pay more to the city because someone does not like chickens. Just a thought.....

Anyhoo, if it moves to the level of a petition contact me and I'll get you an online petition set up if you want.​

 

[moodlymoo]

Quote:
This may be a case where the city has adopted the county's ordinances/laws where animals are concerned. I did a quick search and can not find any code/ordinances for Maywood Park. Checking their web site at http://www.cityofmaywoodpark.com/ left me a bit bewildered since it only seems to be updated occasionally with no useful information about this law being considered.

I may be wrong about this but my gut feeling says this is someone (elected official?) throwing their weight around because, well, they think they can. Since the city is small (population less than 1000 per that wiki site) and I don't see any way to obtain information other than to go through somone in the Mayor's Office it just adds to that gut feeling.

If this is the case then here's a suggestion- they don't appear to have a lot funds to play with so should they attempt to move it forward your friend should raise a big stink about this through a grass roots/petition as suggested but make it a financial argument against it as well as the benefits of having chickens. The argument might go something like this: If the city creates laws more restrictive than the county then the burden of enforcing said laws falls onto the city which will likely mean a need to hire additional staff which may result in an increase in property tax or however this city is funded but the bottom line is the residents will likely pay more - just the way it is when enforcement activities move from the county to the city level. This makes the argument personal for the residents since they may have to pay more to the city because someone does not like chickens. Just a thought.....

Anyhoo, if it moves to the level of a petition contact me and I'll get you an online petition set up if you want.

It came to light last night it is because they are worried about an increase of the rat population. Odd thing is, I have a ton of birds and no rats. I thought if you keep your set up in good order you wont have a situation like that. I guess the residents are keeping their birds for now and fighting it. I will check with her to get more details and contact you

Thank you