Contra Costa County Unincorporated District 2 - Zone R-6

[Quercus_Sola]

Hello everyone, I'm new here. So I don't have chickens right now (they're illegal

). I do have show pigeons though and a pair of rabbits (they're legal...haha).
The officials where I live simply won't listen to my repeated letters and phone calls. I live in unincorporated Lafayette, California (94549); so the laws here are regulated by the county board of supervisors. They are very behind on legalizing chickens; as all the incorporated cities (including the one down my street) let you keep chickens. Do any of you have any hints or pointers on how to legalize chickens? Like I said earlier I wrote letters to the supervisors and even tried to call them, but they won't listen.

I would greatly appreciate any ideas, as would all my neighbors. Practically every neighbor I have is in favor of legalizing chickens, as I've either talked to them or heard them express their interest in keeping a few hens. Even the neighbors who don't want chickens are open to having them legalized. We would all love to enjoy the ecological and sustainable benefits of chickens. Does anyone know what we should do with stubborn officials who don't take kindly to phone calls and letters? Thank you SO much.
Here's the mean (I'm serious) official who is stubborn on legalizing chickens. She wrote a very nasty letter back to me (I was quite polite to her, though, and my neighbors and family assured me of this):
Honorable Gayle B. Uilkema
Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors
Supervisor, District 2

I do NOT claim to own this photo. It is NOT mine.
That's the county district I live in, which governs my everyday life...lol. I'm governed by zone R-6.
Would really appreciate pointers.
Thanks again!

 

[redriver]

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I would try writing a letter to the editor, quote her letter. Get a bunch of other people to call and write letters. Show that it really is more than one person who wants this. Get signs in people's yards along the heavily trafficked routes, especially the routes that your officials use. If you know where they live get signs up in their neighborhood. We made really cute signs that get the point across. They are a hen silhouette, with the word YES below. People really like them. You can see photos on our FB page, Yreka City Chickens. You could also start collecting signatures for a pro-chicken petition. Go to the feed and pet stores and ask to leave flyers about how people can get involved.

Good luck! I used to live in the East Bay where I was allowed to keep chickens. Moved to rural Yreka where, for some strange reason, it is not. Still working on getting the code changed.

RedRiver

 

[the Pollo Loco]

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I would try writing a letter to the editor, quote her letter. Get a bunch of other people to call and write letters.
RedRiver

I would definitely try to get the newspapers involved, they are always wanting stories on politicians...

 

[maybejoey]

I agree with the earlier posts. Get lots of people to get involved and if you can the news paper.

 

[Quercus_Sola]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I really appreciate it. I'm going to go to work now and write a letter to the Contra Costa County Times editor. I'll follow the other suggestions later. thanks again!

 

[ChooksinChoppers]

Also get a petition going and get signatures (names and address) from everyone. Remember people like her work FOR you and get paid BY you and everyone else in the county, so a negative, nasty attitude on her part wont get her re elected and the news coverage will get that message out.
Also if there are any Urban sustainability or garden groups in your county get them on your side as well.

 

[mikecnorthwest]

How ironic that California has basically legalized marijuana, marijuana dispensaries, and marijuana gardens, but chickens are illegal. I don't remember reading about any home invasion robberies where the target was the backyard chickens.

 

[UncleTommy]

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that was the state as a whole, and it was a rather slim margin at that. You still find little pockets of stupid here and there that think "this is california, we don't want chickens here, we're to nice for that". Those pockets happen to be in mostly rural areas, where i live we are surrounded by miles of orchards and vineyards on all sides....but no chickens allowed in town.

 

[redriver]

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Same here. One of our opposing councilmen actually said 'people didn't move to the city to have chickens.' Our "city" consists of about 7500 people. We are the county seat of a geographically large county that only has about 45,000 people total. I can guarentee you that the livestock in this county outnumber the humans. I did my research and pointed out at the next council meeting that the top ten most populous cities in California ALL allow chickens in some way.

RedRiver

 

[Quercus_Sola]

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Good ideas. Thanks!

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The funny thing is, I live in the San Francisco Bay Area---one of the most liberal, progressive, and Californian values areas...lol. They're way behind the times. I live in a semi-rural suburban area but my friends in the cities can have chickens, but these small unincorporated areas can't.

Even the city of San Francisco lets you have chickens for crying out loud!!

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Thanks!