Experiences with town zoning not allowing chickens?

[Backyard Buddies]

Stacey -

I am thoroughly impressed with your daughter's vocabulary! With such a well written/spoken child, they cannot help but listen to her. Do you know which council member is the most open to hearing from constituents? In the case that we took before the council, we did just that. We spoke with one member who then took it to others, including the city manager. Depending on other issues in front of your council, it may not take as long as you think.

Should the councilor not be willing to present your case before the council, you may have one more option before going to the press. Does your council allow an open mic time for residents to bring things before the council? In my city, residents are given a few minutes to present their case before the council. It will then be entered into the minutes for the meeting. With how well your daughter was able to construct her letter, I imagine she could make a pretty powerful presentation before them. The press may actually pick up on the story from there. If they don't, you can always still take it forward to them. They LOVE a good "kid fighting to change government" story!

Keep us informed on your progress. Tell Olivia we're rooting for her!

Shelly

 

[SpottedCrow]

I'm so glad that your neighbours weren't snarky about it...When I went around with my petition, I had more people say, "What do you want those for?" Or "Ewww" or even "Hell, NO!! It's not a farm around here".
I have my fingers crossed for you.

 

[MTchick]

I just was reading the local paper and found an interesting (and a little sad) article about people getting ratted on by their neighbors and having to get rid of their new flock. Looks like my town is in for a Chicken Revolution!! (I live in a chicken-legal zone, by the way. Thank goodness!) It also looks like our new mayor might be on the side of the Chickenistas, which is fabulous.

http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2007/04/29/news/top/news01.txt

-MTchick

 

[SeaChick]

MT Chick-
Thanks for posting that link. What a great article. My daughter is going to use some of the points there in her presentation to her city councilor. Thanks!
Stacey

 

[54Belair]

My town allows them under the following conditions
No Roos
no more than 20 birds
Fly resistan rooast with lime dropping pit.
coop no closer than 25 feet from another property line and 50 feet from a house.

 

[SeaChick]

What is a lime dropping pit? I have been reading up on coop designs ... totally getting ahead of ourselves, but fun!

I like the idea of placing the roost over a mesh lid with dropping pit beneath. It seems like it will make keeping the coop clean easier if the majority of the poop is concentrated in one spot and falls through into the "pit"... am I right about that? Our coop will be small, maybe 4 x 4 or so, and with a wooden/lino floor everywhere but the pit, if we make one. It'd be on cider blocks. So can the droppings just drop down to the ground there? Or should there be a container of some kind? With lime? Will it make the coop much colder in winter if we do this........ maybe it would be better to have a solid floor since we live in maine?

Any thoughts on this?

Thanks!!
Stacey

 

[SeaChick]

Well, Olivia met with our city council guy after school today and it went really well. He is all for it, thinks it is a great idea, and was very impressed with Olivia's presentation. He is going to call the necessary people in the town planning office tomorrow and start the ball rolling. He says he'll try to fast-track it since she wants to get her chicks this spring (the normal schedule would bring us into June before the final vote...). She'll have to go give her presentation a couple more times at various town meetings.

He DID say, aside to me, "It's probably not a very good lesson, but if I were you I wouldn't have even said anything, just got the chickens. Unlikely anything would have happened!". So, bummer that we asked.

He seemed fairly optimistic but said it really depended on the council members' prior experiences with chickens.

Wish us luck!!!

Thanks for all your help and support!
Stacey & Olivia

 

[AccidentalFarm]

I certainly do wish you luck!

Keep us posted!

 

[Backyard Buddies]

That's great Stacey! I really hope that it continues to go well. The fact that the council member was fairly positive is a good sign since politicians are known for couching their words.

I have a feeling this is going to generate some publicity along the way but I have a feeling Olivia will handle it just fine!

I think it's great that you asked. Your daughter is learning how to change things that she doesn't see as fair. She's learning how government works, how to petition her city representative as is her right to do, and learning how to speak in front of adults with authority. Sure, you could have gone the easy route (and certainly some make that choice here) but she wouldn't have gotten all this experience. Patience, perseverance, working toward a goal are all wonderful benefits that she'll carry through her life no matter the outcome of this process.

We're all rooting for you here. Keep us informed and let us know if we need to sign any online petitions if it should come to that.

 

[Backyard Buddies]

Stacey -

This was posted at the *other* BYC site. Perhaps it will help in your own quest.

http://www.the-scientist.com/news/home/53190/