Help- Port Charlotte Florida

[bshll914]

My husband and I have 2- chickens and 1- rooster in Port Charlotte Florida. We had a visit today for Code Enforcement stating they received a complaint today about our chickens and we are not allowed to keep them. In everything I have read ( Charlotte County Ordinances ) we can have them, we do not live in a deed restricted community, we have them on our fenced in back yard in a nice coop my husband and son built. We take good care of them. If anyone knows how we can fight this- please help. Our two year old loves his chickens and would be devasted to lose them. Thank you for your time!

 

[mnferalkitty]

If it says you can have them in the ordinances just point that out to them, then they can't do anything

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

if they receive so many complaints, yes, they can...most likely the c/o is coming from one person, you can fight it though..what is the specific complaint? Is it noise from the roos? Smell? Fence hopping into neighbor yard? If your ordinance says you can have chickens, you can, unless they become a nusance, like say a constantly barking dog.
I suppose you have an idea who called the complaint? If you can, go to the store and pick up a half dozen eggs, put them in your own container, go to the neighbor and say, I have too many eggs this week and since I never get the chance to say hello, I thought I would come over. Even if they slam the door in your face you will have extended the olive branch and they will think you aren't so bad after all, or it will open the door to a solution and equitable arrangement.
My chickens can be very noisy at times, I would be ticked if my close neighbor had that were I could hear it while trying to sleep in on the weekend......

 

[incognito123]

First, tell them to stay off your property, it is a violation for them to come on your property without a warrant. (4th US Constitutional Amendment - Bill of Rights) Second, tell them to show the exact LAW, not code, that prohibits you from having them, then research what they tell you.

 

[maybechickens]

bshll914,

Please let us know how this turns out. We have considered chickens more than once, and are considering them again. We live in Port Charlotte. This is exacerbated by the fact that chickens eat bugs - lots of them - and in our own backyard I was recently bitten by a Lyme-infected tick. Apparently chickens love to eat ticks and aren't affected by them. We want chickens now, not only for eggs, but for disease control.

Here's the link to a thread I started a year ago:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/530878/charlotte-county-florida-ordinances

I can't see anything in the ordinances that stops you or me from having chickens either. If you call the county, they direct you to Zoning, which is under Building & Construction Services. Maybe there is something there in the way of a law? But if you call Zoning, they'll say chickens are allowed in agricultural land only, not residential.

I also know that we had a neighborhood watch meeting in November or December, and the speaker at that time said that Charlotte County would be allowed to keep 3 hens per yard starting 1/1/2012. I have to dig up notes and find out who that speaker was.

 

[maybechickens]

Update - I spoke to a code compliance officer, really nice guy. He said there's a proposal in that would allow for 2 hens per address. It's not codified yet, meaning it's not on the books and valid to go by. It will go before the county commissioners as part of a hearing, and there will be public input at that time.

He said he'd call me when that agenda crossed his desk. Fingers crossed! I would be delighted to get this in place.

 

[bshll914]

Just an update- we still have our hens and rooster- our neighbors are fine with us having our hens and the county code compliance officer stated the ruling about three hens. So we will be keeping our hens- problem is we have to locate someone to take our rooster. The neighbors are not too keen on his crowing at 6:00am! But we want to find someone who will love him as much as we do! We have had him for almost 5 months now and don't want him to be slaughtered or used for cock fighting. If anyone know of someone in this area- please let me know.

 

[1muttsfan]

Hi and welcome to BYC from northern Michigan

Hope you find a good home for your roo.

 

[bshll914]

Thank you! We do too. It is going to break our son's heart, but we have to do it to keep our neighbors happy and to keep our hens.

 

[groydollar]

Maybe a zoo would take your rooster or a school? I live near a zoo and they have chickens walking around all over. I don't know how far you are from Key West, but that town has chickens all over the place.