Ft Collins, CO change to restrict roosters where previously allowed

[dretd]

IMHO, You need to once again search for your states 'right to farm law.' It will lay out Federal guidlines that were written to stop just this sort of harrasment. Each state has a slightly diferent version to comply with the Federal mandate. Be carefull that they may specify animals in a general way, and place poultry in a diferent meaning. The Federal guidlines are written to include poultry at a rate of 10 chickens per 1 animal unit, and most lands are limited to 499 units before they come under federal eegulations for animal care. (thats 4,999chickens).

The fact of Grandfathering is for 'land use' and not individual animal lives. They should not be able to limit your growing your own food in any significat way. You do not have to 'agree' to subrigate rights you already have.

Read and take the meaning of the 4rth, and 14th Amendment to the constitution. the 4rth guarentees your freedom form unlawful searches, or seizure of property without a court order. (including privacy to do your business, in that sense). The 14th is about illegalities of creating a special class with special rules, to place things under special controls. A HOA, is a contract that is agreed to, not enforced by regulations of state or nation.

As for the lower levels of government, lesser officials often give misinformation . because of ignorance or ego, so record everything, or reduce it to paper documents.

In my troubles they refuse to answer in kind and try to buffalo through without documents , to make denials possible if they fall short. So, I dont do Phone calls. I collect whatever documents I can generate, agianst the day they try to get into punishment mode.

It is possible to sue a big mouth for harrasment on civil rights grounds, (county boards too,) as they do not have the right to limit your happiness, without incuring prejudice. We dont like that, is not good enough, a proof of threat to community or illegality must be supported.

Good luck.

Thank you so much for your well-wishes, I may indeed need that luck!

Colorado does have a right to farm act that is fairly robust. Unfortunately it specifically excludes anyone living in municipalities and each city may regulate farms and farm animals as they desire. If course anyone can fight that law and any law restricting their rights, but you would have to hire a lawyer to do so and that costs buckets of cash. The going rate in this area for lawyers is $250-$400/hour and if you go to trial they charge a higher rate and require a retainer up front--typically $10K. Cheaper to move. I was thinking that if it went that far I would contact the ACLU and see if they have any interest in taking up a property rights case.

Don't get me started about trespassing! The Humane Society is allowed by ordinance to enter your property to investigate if they get a complaint from a neighbor (probable cause) and will even come onto your porch and take your dog if they want. Really makes me mad that they have more ability to invade privacy than police officers and no one thinks twice because its for pet animals.

After looking at the animal restrictions in surrounding cities, it appears that Fort Collins is actually very good and has the most liberal laws in terms of allowing people freedom to operate. This rooster ban came becasue there are a small handful of property owners that are bothered by their neighbors and they have no HOA restrictions on roosters. It appears they are trying to get the city to act as an HOA on their behalf. Those folks are the squeaky wheel, the city responded and now I am squeaking back, and I will be pretty loud if I need to!

 

[dretd]

A quick update. A worker from the city is going to come over today sometime between 1 and 130 to look at my individual situation.

What I suspect is that they want to look at my property and where I keep my roosters and formulate some restrictions on roosters in the city so that will appease the folks that are complaining but craft them in such a way that they will not impact folks like me that have roosters that are not bothering anyone.

I have been collecting dB data on my area for the last month. My rooster of course has been relatively quiet since it has been so cold. That and I think he is freaked out that I am following him around with a dB meter.

We live on a pretty busy road and the traffic noise can be pretty bad. I went out to measure ambient traffic noise on the dB meter the city lent me, plus I have gotten readings from my rooster out back:
-At the front of my house (about 250 feet from the road and 300 yards from the intersection) the noise ranged from 58.2 to 67.3 dB.
-I also took reading from the property line about 20 ft from the road and the noise level ranged from 68.7 to 83.9 dB.
-My rooster's crow ranges from 90.1 dB at 3 feet, 84.2 dB at 18 feet, 65.5-69.8 at 60 feet and 51.1-54.3 at 100 ft when he was inside the hen house.
-My dog barking at the horse from 48ft was 75.0-78.9 dB
-A train whistle/horn about 3/4 of a mile away was 81.2 dB

So what this data tells me is that my rooster's crow is no louder than a dog barking, and no louder than the road noise and no louder than a train. If the city wants to ban roosters solely becasue they are noisy, they also need to ban dogs, trucks and trains in the city. Otherwise they are arbitrarily singling out one specific noisemaker while tolerating the same level of noise from other sources.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

A quick update. A worker from the city is going to come over today sometime between 1 and 130 to look at my individual situation.

What I suspect is that they want to look at my property and where I keep my roosters and formulate some restrictions on roosters in the city so that will appease the folks that are complaining but craft them in such a way that they will not impact folks like me that have roosters that are not bothering anyone.

I have been collecting dB data on my area for the last month. My rooster of course has been relatively quiet since it has been so cold. That and I think he is freaked out that I am following him around with a dB meter.

We live on a pretty busy road and the traffic noise can be pretty bad. I went out to measure ambient traffic noise on the dB meter the city lent me, plus I have gotten readings from my rooster out back:
-At the front of my house (about 250 feet from the road and 300 yards from the intersection) the noise ranged from 58.2 to 67.3 dB.
-I also took reading from the property line about 20 ft from the road and the noise level ranged from 68.7 to 83.9 dB.
-My rooster's crow ranges from 90.1 dB at 3 feet, 84.2 dB at 18 feet, 65.5-69.8 at 60 feet and 51.1-54.3 at 100 ft when he was inside the hen house.
-My dog barking at the horse from 48ft was 75.0-78.9 dB
-A train whistle/horn about 3/4 of a mile away was 81.2 dB

So what this data tells me is that my rooster's crow is no louder than a dog barking, and no louder than the road noise and no louder than a train. If the city wants to ban roosters solely becasue they are noisy, they also need to ban dogs, trucks and trains in the city. Otherwise they are arbitrarily singling out one specific noisemaker while tolerating the same level of noise from other sources.

And THAT is an excellent argument!

 

[my57facets]

dredt,

Wow! So what has happened with all of this?

I just joined to gather information in planning for the future & then here's your post about problems coming. Or rather here already. Please let me know what's going on now with all of this & if you would like any more help I would be more than willing.

Cheryl ~

 

[dretd]

Quote: Thanks!

Update:
The City worker came and took photos of my property (to demonstrate setback and the rural nature of my city property) to show the P&Z board at the planned meeting in January.

He said that in all of Fort Collins there are only 9 people that have voiced that they have a problem with rooster noises. So they are probably going to recommend to not change the rules to disallow roosters (yay!) and will handle each case on an individual basis through mediation and with tools (like noise ordinances) already in place. I hope this is the case, but to be sure I will show up to the P&Z meeting to say my peace.

The worker was very excited about my rooster crowing data and asked me to put it in an Excel Spreadsheet or Table for him so that they can include that information in their report to the P&Z Board.

So not a done deal, but it is looking good to continue to keep roosters in Fort Collins. Just goes to show that if you are passionate, proactive and polite that you can in fact put the brakes on proposals and that Big Government will listen if you present them with reasoned arguments and not just argue with them!

 

[dretd]

dredt,

Wow! So what has happened with all of this?

I just joined to gather information in planning for the future & then here's your post about problems coming. Or rather here already. Please let me know what's going on now with all of this & if you would like any more help I would be more than willing.

Cheryl ~

Hi my57facets and

!

Here is an excerpt from the email they sent out (after the visit, but to everyone on the mailing list which is about 400 people):


"Update on Phase Two Code Changes - Farm Animals and Hoop Houses

As you know, staff has been working with community members on two issues related to the phase two code changes:

1. Develop standards for the raising of farm animals in the zone districts where they are currently allowed (Urban Estate, Rural Lands, Residential Foothills, and River Conservation Zone Districts); and
2. Begin to remove barriers to year-round food production by allowing hoop houses.

Staff held two focus groups on these issues, launched an online survey in October, and held an open house. Each of these events were designed to solicit direction on the standards for farm animals and hoop houses.
Overall, 89 citizens participated in the survey, which was advertised on the City website, through social media, and sent to the current Urban Agriculture email list of almost 400 citizens. Postcards to over 1,700 homeowners and residents in the Urban Estate, Residential Foothills, River Conservation, and Rural Lands zone districts were also sent informing them of the survey and open house.
For the summary results of the online survey and notes from the open house, please visit the project's website at www.fcgov.com/urbanagriculture.

Farm Animals. Based on feedback from the community and further research, staff is evaluating if our existing regulations within the City address the concerns we have heard related to farm animals.If staff finds that existing regultaions address all of the citizen's concerns we've heard, then our plan is to not create additional regulations but instead to work individually with neighborhoods to resolve any particular issues as they arise."

 

[SweetWilliam]

Hi,
Just ran into this thread. I live by Lory State Park, but own a house on North Grant in FC. It occurs to me how much louder my 18 hens are about egg laying than my three roosters are about crowing. It's funny, these sounds actually add to the atmosphere that I enjoy. I agree that someone who lives with city noises would be digging deep for something to gripe about if they take issue with crowing.

 

[dretd]

Hi,
Just ran into this thread. I live by Lory State Park, but own a house on North Grant in FC. It occurs to me how much louder my 18 hens are about egg laying than my three roosters are about crowing. It's funny, these sounds actually add to the atmosphere that I enjoy. I agree that someone who lives with city noises would be digging deep for something to gripe about if they take issue with crowing.

Hi SweetWilliam and thanks for stopping by the thread!

I have to agree with you about the egg-song. When I first got chickens, before rooster, I was surprised hoe loud the egg song was, how long it lasted, and how many other hens decided to join in. I have to wonder how many complaints about roosters are really complaints against the egg song (which my rooster will participate in, too)?

 

[SweetWilliam]

That's a very good point! The animal control folks could probably testify to vindicate the roosters. Nice to find some other locals, too.

Merry Christmas!
Billie

 

[dretd]

Hello everyone! I have an update to the rooster saga. I just received an email from the City's point person on the proposed Ag changes and here is an excerpt:

"Farm Animals. Regarding standards for the raising of farm animals, staff is not proposing amendments to the Land Use or City Codes at this time. During the public outreach efforts, including three focus groups, an online survey, and an open house, and subsequent research, staff found that the concerns raised regarding farm animals could be addressed with existing regulations and were limited to one or two neighborhoods within the City. In addition, numerous citizens expressed strong concerns about regulating their food production ability within the zone districts that currently allow farm animals. Thus, instead of developing regulations that could affect all residents within these districts (approximately 1,700 homes), staff is working with the concerned neighborhoods directly to resolve specific concerns.
Next Steps. Staff is bringing the proposed code changes to the Planning and Zoning Board for a recommendation during their February hearing. A full staff report with attachments is available for review at the Planning and Zoning Board’s website: http://www.fcgov.com/cityclerk/planning-zoning.php. Staff is currently scheduled to bring these changes to Council for First and Second Reading in March of 2014."

They will make the recommendation to the P&Z at their next meeting, so I will need to clear that spot on my calendar and speak if permitted. The roosters are not in the clear until after the P&Z decides to go along with the staff recommendations and tell the City Council not to regulate the Farm Animals. There are still roadblocks that can arise, and I will need to spend a few more hours at meetings to make sure my rights are not taken away. Time well spent and I am breathing a little easier now!

I have to say that Ft Collins has done a really good job at trying to hear all points of view and remaining neutral in investigating the suggested ban. I feel like they did listen to me as I had voiced that there were ordinances already on the books to deal with problems and that they should not impact everyone becasue of a few problem areas.

Thanks everyone for your support and well wishes. I will continue to update as the meetings take place.