HOA won't allow chickens

[lovingmyhens]

Well I think I have figured out what happened. My house backs up to a bayou, so I have no back neighbors. When I was going to get the chickens I asked specifically the two neighbors next door to me if they would mind. One, a guy and his wife, didn't care at all. The others, didn't as well, BUT they just put their house on the market Sat and they had an open house on Sun. Their realtor was there for 3-4 hours. I think she may have heard or seen them (they have a 2 story house) and told on me. The funny thing is, not 2 months ago, 3 doors down, a sweet couple with two little girls, moved in and THEY HAVE CHICKENS!! We have become best buds. I have not told them about this, but I am going to ask if they would keep my 8 chickens (they have a HUGE backyard) for a couple of months and let this die down. I have no doubt that when the realtor is out of my face, ie, the house is sold, I will have no further trouble. I am also putting a lock on my gate so no one can get in my backyard.
Hopefully this is going to work.

 

[MeepBeep]

Their realtor was there for 3-4 hours.

Yep, realtors can be real nosy busy bodied do gooders... Been there and done that before when I lived in a neighborhood... 6 years not one issue with anything, then all the sudden the neighbor next door puts their house up for sale and within a few days code violation visits that continued the entire time it was on the market... BTW I never actually paid a fine as it was all frivolous stuff, they were 'verbal' warnings as the code enforcement officer new full well what was up... The code enforcement officer visited at least once a month, sometimes every week and we were on a first name basis real fast, visits went something like

Officer "Someone reported you did {insert random act}"
Me "Nope, never did that."
Office "OK, have a nice day"

or

Officer "Someone reported your yard unkept"
Me "Umm, OK what's wrong with it?"
Officer "I really don't know, maybe just mow it again this week to make them happy."

One week said officer was on vacation and his fill in gave me a real ticket for, get this "Bushes/hedges being too tall" The chief of police got an earful that day, and babbled like an incoherent idiot when I asked him to show me the ordinance that specified the height restrictions on trees and bushes in town... Needless to say he sent the officer over to apologize about an hour later, gave me some excuse about an ordinance that says bushes/trees can't block the view of an intersection, well I didn't live on an intersection and none of my bushes were even within 30 feet of the street so that certainly did not apply...

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

I certainly wouldn't lay odds on it having been the real estate agent unless no one attended the open house. It is common for people to visit open houses in their neighborhoods just to check them out and compare with their own homes. Could have also been an interested potential purchaser who doesn't want to live near chickens...or a board member or person from teh management company (if there is one), or...

 

[lovingmyhens]

Quote:
True...just very suspicious that the open house was Sunday, I have had these chickens for 10 months, and viola, a notice... Now, I didn't stay home the whole time on Sunday, but I was in and out. Unfortunately for my neighbors, I saw no one come to the open house. If it was a board member, someone would have had to tip them off...

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
You misunderstood me. I was suppositioning and any/all of those folks might have come to the open house and seen your birds, not that they came at a different time.

 

[lovingmyhens]

ohhh and you are right on all accounts. Who knows how it happened, but I am going to try to get around it some way!! Happy 4th!!

 

[ChicknCommander]

City ppl and their problems ya should move to the country and let somebody else pay that hoa

 

[MeepBeep]

City ppl and their problems ya should move to the country and let somebody else pay that hoa

Sadly if it's anywhere like where I have grown up, what was the country 10-20 years ago is now the new hot spot for all the 'city dwelling yuppies' to move to avoid the higher cost of living of the city proper... Now, there is a never ending stream of feuding in my area at every village meeting nowadays between the people that have lived here all their lives and the new guy that think he is empowered to tell them how it's going to be now that he moved into the area... And sadly when you take a farming community of say a few hundred spread out on nice acreage and put up a new neighborhood that crams in 3000 transplanted city yuppies it doesn't take long for them to vote in their own like mined people...

One town by me had a population of 200 twenty years ago, there were more businesses than houses in the town and it was a nice laid back farming community... A few developers bought out some farm land and wham the population is now 3500+ and the people moving in are all city transplants and with them came all the new ordinances of things you can't do in town anymore...

 

[lovingmyhens]

Update on the hoa and my chickens-when I told my neighbor down the street about the letter, he offered to take them before I even asked!! So this weekend I'll take them over there-3 doors down! I'll still get my eggs and we can visit all we want. When the house sells I'll bring them home. Life is good!
Oh and Id move to the country in a heartbeat but I'm single and teach close to my house. The logistics of finding a place not too big, just right for me would be a real headache!

 

[lovingmyhens]

Yep, realtors can be real nosy busy bodied do gooders...  Been there and done that before when I lived in a neighborhood... 6 years not one issue with anything, then all the sudden the neighbor next door puts their house up for sale and within a few days code violation visits that continued the entire time it was on the market...  BTW I never actually paid a fine as it was all frivolous stuff, they were  'verbal' warnings as the code enforcement officer new full well what was up...  The code enforcement officer visited at least once a month, sometimes every week and we were on a first name basis real fast, visits went something like

Officer "Someone reported you did {insert random act}"
Me "Nope, never did that."
Office "OK, have a nice day"

or

Officer "Someone reported your yard unkept"
Me "Umm, OK what's wrong with it?"
Officer "I really don't know, maybe just mow it again this week to make them happy."

One week said officer was on vacation and his fill in gave me a real ticket for, get this "Bushes/hedges being too tall" The chief of police got an earful that day, and babbled like an incoherent idiot when I asked him to show me the ordinance that specified the height restrictions on trees and bushes in town...  Needless to say he sent the officer over to apologize about an hour later, gave me some excuse about an ordinance that says bushes/trees can't block the view of an intersection, well I didn't live on an intersection and none of my bushes were even within 30 feet of the street so that certainly did not apply...

And all the while the bad guys are getting away with murder...