GREAT NEWS in Montgomery County, MD!

[chateau poulet]

Is there any news on how the planning meeting went yesterday?

Edit:

So I went to the planning board website and skimmed the video from the proceedings.

http://mncppc.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=2

I did the same. No discussion/objections about chickens, which is good, because that means the proposed code should go to the Council as is. Some council members may have reservations, so please contact your council member to tell them that you support backyard chickens. They are less nuisance than a dog, with sound and odor, and small, healthy backyard flocks do not pose any health risks (chicken battery farms do). Municipalities that have allowed chickens have found no negative impact and many have further relaxed their restrictions on backyard chickens.

 

[leghorn88]

Still no news on the new zoning laws??

 

[chateau poulet]

Still no news on the new zoning laws??

Still in process. Tomorrow night, Tuesday June 11, the County Council will hold it's first session for public comment. They said they've already filled all the slots for speakers, but if they have a lot more requests to speak, they will add more sessions, possible one on Thurs evening, June 13.

Please, if you support Backyard chickens in Montgomery County, let your voice be heard. Every voice is hugely important to this push.

The Planning Board has written a very fair guideline for BYC in MoCo, but the Council will need to pass it before it's "law", and already we have some groups spreading fear and falsehoods about chickens in residential areas. The job of the council is to make a decision consistent with the desires of it's constituents, so if we have very vocal opposition and we don't also have vocal supporters, the council may change the favorable wording that the Planning Board has recommended.

This is the time to GET INVOLVED if you want BYC in MoCo!!

Write a letter to your council person and all of the council-persons at large. M Erlich is leaning towards believing that there arre health risks associated with BYC. We need to educate our council Members against fear mongering by chicken haters (yes, it's started).
http://www6.montgomerycountymd.gov/csltmpl.asp?url=/Content/council/mem/district\_map.asp

Come to a County Council Session.
SPEAK at a County Council Public Hearing!!
http://www.montgomeryplanning.org/development/zoning/


Here is the final draft of recommended zoning from the Planning Board.
http://www.montgomeryplanning.org/v...ing/documents/59-3.Uses5.2.13PBDraftFinal.pdf

See example of recent fear-mongering in message #111. This is what we're up against. I believe they are a very vocal minority, but if they are speaking and we are not, they might win. We need to have our voices heard.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BackyardChickensMontgomeryCountyMD/message/111

 

[lauraduvelius]

EXCELLENT NEWS! Any ideas when the final vote will occur "this fall"?
Thanks,
Laura

 

[chateau poulet]

EXCELLENT NEWS! Any ideas when the final vote will occur "this fall"?
Thanks,
Laura

We had a public hearing with the County Council last night and, unfortunately, there was a lot of misinformation and fear around backyard chickens. We will need to keep telling the Council the benefits of BYC. To anyone in Montgomery County, PLEASE send a letter with pictures of your backyard chickens, your family with them, your coop, or if you don't have them yet, pictures of the kind of coop you'd like to get if this passes, and pictures showing how fun BYC is! Please tell them your story, and what it means to you and your family. It's hard for people to imagine, and many have childhood memories of loud, mean, stinky poultry barns. We tried to assure them that we are not asking for poultry farming in residential neighborhoods. We are asking to have a handful of backyard hens as family pets - that's it.

Here are links to the Council Members.
http://www6.montgomerycountymd.gov/csltmpl.asp?url=/Content/council/mem/district_map.asp

 

[lauraduvelius]

Here is my email to my council member:

Dear Council member Navarro,

My name is Laura Duvelius and I live on Evans Dr off Georgia Ave and I have a deep interest in the recent chicken question. As the mother of two young children attending Montgomery County public schools (Sligo Creek Elementary and Silver Spring International Middle School), I am delighted the council has seen fit to review the zoning ordinances regarding keeping chickens in the suburban environment.

As a trained Master Gardener and avid backyard gardener of fruits, vegetables and native plants built on turf converted with the help of the Montgomery County Rainscapes program (http://www6.montgomerycountymd.gov/dectmpl.asp?url=/Content/dep/water/rainscapes.asp they also helped us with our three water barrels for rain water collection), I can tell you that having yard chickens is of tremendous benefit to the county and the neighborhood.

From an integrated pest management approach, chickens greatly reduce (or even eliminate) the need for the application of pesticides to control insects. Additionally, healthy, fresh eggs from your own backyard are of significant family and health benefit. Lastly, from a teaching perspective, my children and the neighborhood children already spend significant time in our garden. Many kids have never seen potatoes or peas or beans growing in a safe, healthy environment. Backyard gardening in a responsible way with the use of chickens as a piece of an integrated pest management system can only benefit our community.

I urge you to vote for backyard chickens when this topic comes to a vote this fall.

Thank you,

 

[annekevdbroek]

HI All - just found this thread. I live in MoCo and have had chickens the past 4 years. Neighbors just lodged a complaint against me today for the first time. They have a history of conflicts with other neighbors (over unrelated issues) and I seem to be their latest target. It stems from unrelated issues w/ them - none of it relating to the chickens, over which they had no prior issues. Its been going on for over 6 months now and I guess today they turned to the chickens for their latest ammunition.

Anyhow - I need to call animal control back and such and could use some advice and talking with them. I've been a good chicken owner, good neighbor, and only have 4 hens in a cute and small, well tended, coop.

Thanks in advance!

 

[MoCoBYC]

Read more about backyard chickens in Montgomery County, and how you can get involved here: montgomerycountybackyardchickens.org

 

[samuelsathya]

Its a great news, thanks to all participants. sam

 

[dashie]

I am new to the site and live in Rockville. Will this new law affect all of Montgomery county or only the cities that allow chickens? I had called animal control in April and was told that Rockville doesn't allow any farm animals. This would be wonderful news if we can finally enjoy chickens as household pets in the city of rockville