HOA won't allow chickens

[Teery]

Guess that's why I live in the country!

Yep...People want chickens in an urban environment..others that live in a urban environment don't. It creates conflict and people want laws to change in one direction or the other...IMO chickens belong out of the city...that doesn't mean I believe government has any business or jurisdiction in regulating what you can and cannot have on your property...

No one in a city has signed or agreed to any city ordinances and it is a legal fiction to think cities have any jurisdiction or cause of action against you should they choose to enforce anti-chicken ordinances. If you understand the law, and don't screw up, you can defeat most legal fictions in court..

 

[COchickencoop]

I despise HOA rules with a passion, and feel for anyone that is stuck living under them...

Right now I living in the perfect location to laugh at HOA rules, I live on a 30 acre unincorporated farm, no local, town or city rules to follow, and we are zoned residential estate, basically the same as being zoned agriculture they just tax buildings differently depending on use and I can't have an airstrip  But, right across the street is an incorporated gated retirement community that of course has a HOA, as well as city ordinances they have to follow...  Lets just say they don't exactly appreciate some of the things I'm able to do and have even called the po-po many a time to no avail as I'm not breaking any laws even if they don't like what I'm doing across the street...  I have started to actually call the police department in advance to let them know when I'm doing something like going out for some target practice, unfortunately it doesn't help much because their policy is to follow up on all reports of gun fire, so they come out anyway for the obligatory wellness check, but at least calling ahead they don't show up with sirens and lights anymore...  Even had the gate guard call the fire department on me for a burn barrel last month, the fire departments (two departments respond do to my location) and the po-po showed up (as they must for a 911 report of a fire) shaking their heads for the gate guard wasting their time and resources...   They told me they had a talk with him, so maybe he got a clue...

That's funny! HOAs can be very annoying, but they do good sometimes. However, they take away freedom. I'm not even allowed to have a shed. But just like everyone has said, I agreed to follow the rules. I guess I need to establish a homestead up in the mountains somewhere.

 

[Amykins]

My HOA is the worst in the country, and I will hear no arguments against that. They slapped us with a $400 fine for having a hummingbird feeder. A HUMMINGBIRD FEEDER. We can't even have dogs. The monthly dues are $450 a month (they were only 300 - already steep - when I moved in three years ago). If they found out about my duck I would be Le Screwed. That's why I plan to raise it indoors.

 

[ChicknCommander]

Why don't you just move it would be cheaper. I can't see paying somebody $450 to tell me how to live your life plus whatever they fine you for?

 

[bawkbawkbawk]

Our HOA rules around livestock and pets state that nothing that is a "nuisance" is allowed. I like this approach because it keeps things flexible. We are zoned for horses and neighbors have donkeys, pigs, chickens and yes, there are even a few roosters around us. No major complaints that I am aware of, but I think if there were, the "nuisance" clause would be invoked.

That said, I don't love our HOA; I think they are a necessary evil. But like almost any governmental or quasi-governmental body, they are a bit drunk on their power, favorites are played and things can be done in a surprisingly arbitrary manner. I would hate to go up against them on anything because maintaining their upper hand is all they do all day and I, well, I have chickens to look after...

If I were trying to overturn an HOA rule, my first move would be to organize others within the neighborhood. You against the HOA could be a lost cause, but if you have a long list of neighbors who have demonstrated support for a change in the rules and at least a goodly number of them are willing to go with you to attend meetings, lobby individual HOA board members, etc., then you might be able to make a dent.

I believe that even Manhattan allows people to keep three hens. Why other communities persist with archaic rules against them is a mystery to me. Some of it comes down to education: there is a prevailing belief among the ignorant that chickens are inherently unclean and carry disease. Perhaps you could bring in an area expert to dispel these notions. This, of course, assumes that they are even the tiniest bit responsive and reasonable - not always the case.

Good luck!

 

[Amykins]

Why don't you just move it would be cheaper. I can't see paying somebody $450 to tell me how to live your life plus whatever they fine you for?

Well gee, that'd be awesome if I could afford a second mortgage. :/ This is our first home and we need to wait it out until the market recovers and the value will finally go higher than what we paid for it several years ago. We've learned our lesson though - never buy a home with an HOA! I should have asked around the neighbors. Where we live is VERY nice, I'll give them that, and we saw a buncha doggies walking around (we later found out they were either just people out for a walk or illegal dog owners that were later fined or evicted) so this is one life lesson we learned the hard way.

 

[5purgatory]

Ours are $40. per year I think. Only joined the first year, got elected to the Architectural Committee, helped approve my own plans, then got out when I found out the little power they really had, Have found the CC&Rs. Allows dogs, cats, fish and birds. Last time I checked chickens were birds, so I guess I am going to go on raising our 8 buff Orpington pullets. Let my one part-time neighbor who lives over 2 hundred yards away and cannot see our lot from her house go suck eggs.

 

[ChicknCommander]

Where I live your hoa fee would make a house payment. I live on 5 acres and house is 2200 sq feet brick home my house payment is $450 and is my 2nd home the first being a trailer house I paid for from a job I had after school. I'm only 25 too. Best part nobody can tell me what to do. I think if your waiting on the "market" to go up think your waiting time. The market was only up because banks was making bad loans anybody with a first n last name could get a loan which made ppl sell higher and when all those ppl figured out they couldn't afford it and was foreclosed on the prices dropped and made houses sell for their more realistic value. Don't believe me do the tease arch for yourself

 

[MeepBeep]

I think if your waiting on the "market" to go up think your waiting time. The market was only up because banks was making bad loans anybody with a first n last name could get a loan which made ppl sell higher and when all those ppl figured out they couldn't afford it and was foreclosed on the prices dropped and made houses sell for their more realistic value. Don't believe me do the tease arch for yourself

Yep, it's going to be a long time before the market is 'up' to the values it was at, probably going to take decades for many to simply break even let alone hope to make a profit... Although it's not for everyone we chose a strategic bankruptcy/foreclosure after we explored all our options, it was simply the best financial option open to us at the time since we had outgrown our house, and were losing equity every month... We gave up a 1200 sqft house with a 2 car garage on a cookie cutter sized lot in a neighborhood... Moved 2 miles down the road, and now rent a 4000+ sqft house, with a 4 car garage that has a finished heated and AC office above it, a huge steel pole barn, a full sized restored wood barn, an in ground pool, a pool house/shed (used to be the well house), and another out building (about the size of a 2 car garage) that is half chicken coop, half workshop and this building has a 2nd story that is for storage and is heated as well, there is even a restored brick silo, that we are going to convert into a fodder growing building all the while we are sitting on 30 acres that butts up to and extends into a lake, so we have lake rights as well... All for $100 a month more then our old mortgage, yeah renting isn't ideal but sometimes it's nearly impossible to beat... And even though we are renting the owner doesn't care what we do or how we use the property as long as it's legal and not destructive... We plan to stay here as long as we can as there is no way we could purchase anything of this size in the area for what we pay in rent...

 

[COchickencoop]

My HOA is the worst in the country, and I will hear no arguments against that. They slapped us with a $400 fine for having a hummingbird feeder. A HUMMINGBIRD FEEDER. We can't even have dogs. The monthly dues are $450 a month (they were only 300 - already steep - when I moved in three years ago). If they found out about my duck I would be Le Screwed. That's why I plan to raise it indoors.

I am very sorry. $450 a month! I can't believe it! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk