I'm not zoned for chickens! help UPDATE VARIANCE COST?! MORE CHARGES!!

[Hollywood Chickens]

Talk to the department heads, and do it in a way that can be shown (via email, fax or recorded, make sure they know it is recorded if you are the one recording) anything that can't be proven never happened legally.

Good work on not letting the officer in! I don't know what the variance should cost but the number is ridiculous!

 

[DragonEggs]

Try to find out if you can get a temporary permit. Variances are permenant and stay with the property FOREVER whereas permits are only good for as long as the structrue or position stands, once moved they are nulled. As long as you don't plan on moving your coop or your chickens around it should apply, and it shouldn't cost $8000.

Also, don't let these people bully you. I'm going through the same thing right now with a zoning officer and all these people are on a power trip. They just want to be right and there is no reasoning with them or asking them for help because they want to be right so bad they don't see anyway of helping you.

 

[onthespot]

poster above is right, you want to apply for a PERMIT, not a variance. A variance could possibley be much more expensive. Not sure how much but ask about PERMITS, not variances.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Whether it is a permit or a variance will depend on the specific rules and procedures in your jurisdiction. Since DragonEggs is also in s. Florida, she may well be correct for there, but not definitively; you do need to check your own city/county procedures. I know that in MY city (Tempe, AZ), previous to the current code that allows hens at all single family residences, a variance was required (and every one submitted was approved!). If someone currently wants more hens than are allowed, or wants a rooster in a non-ag district, a variance, not a permit would be needed.

A variance is an approved deviation from the zoning code or city ordinances. How long it lasts depends on exactly how that variance is worded. For a building or structure, it lasts until such time as a certain percentage of that building or structure is remodeled or rebuilt, or until its use has been changed or abandones for one year or more. For animals it could vary depending on what the hearing officer or board of adjustments or city council agreed to (it would start at the HO, and could be appealed to the following entities in the order listed).

Permits are usually for specific activities that are already recognised or defined by specific function. Operating certain specific businesses requires a permit; adding a 2nd story to an existing house requires a use permit that would not be required if I were building a new two story house (don't ask me--seems odd to me, but that is the way it is here); this is in addition to the necessary building permit. Additional recognised permits are for apiaries, antennas more than 35' tall, etc.

 

[watersoflethe]

Quote:
so i can't seem to contact the person in charge. the first woman i called was actually very helpful and told me truthfully that she has no idea how it'll work and she wanted me to talk to her supervisor..
so she gave me his number but i've been having trouble contacting him..

so i left him messages but the woman that called back called back instead of him saying he's not in. she's the one who just re-read me the zoning laws that i already know. i told her i know all that that's why i wanted to apply for a variance. and then she just mocked me saying that they were just chickens and did i know variances are very expensive and they are 8,000 and basically she talked to me in a tone that said i'm stupid for trying to apply for something like that with chickens.

Quote:
thank you for the offer. i will keep that in mind. i wouldn't mind spending around 65 or even a bit more if it meant that i can at least try to apply even if it wont come through...its still a chance
but 8000 is RIDICULOUS. my property tax is already bad enough since its a newly built neighborhood. i can't believe there's cow farms down the street that i can smell and i can't keep chickens in my huge backyard. ARGH!!!! stupid riverside.

 

[DragonEggs]

I know how you feel. 8 years ago when my area of FL was mostly scrub forests all these companies went around buying up big chunks of the land while it was cheap. They put cheap little fences around it all and stuck a couple of cows on each piece of land to get a tax break. So, basically, before they built the big buildings right accross the street from the local mall, there use to be cows munching on wilderness. It's amazing what the CCO will approve and deny, which really the CCO gets the last word anyway. Thats probably who you need to talk to.

 

[theFox]

Quote:
Actually a long string of judges can and frequently do have the last say, but to get to that point can sometimes require a big pile of money and a lot of time.

7 years 5 lawsuits, 2 trials before a judge, 1 trial before a jury, 1 federal appeal finished, 1 currently being filed and the end result is one company in bankruptcy and the current litigation is being pushed by the bankruptcy court. So far the only winners are the liars (err I mean lawyers). That should give you a feel for what pushing to the limit can involve. In this case the pushing party doesn't stand a snowball's chance in hades but someone is making money off of it and as long as that can occur it will go on. I follow certain interesting court actions, it can be very, shall we say, entertaining.

 

[Sierra pachie bars]

You aren't in Eastvale are you ? Some of those people out in Eastvale have nothing better to do then think they need to tell others how to live, keep their yards and what they should be allowed to park on their driveway. I used to live there. I said something that someone on a forum didn't like and mysteriously started getting harassed by code enforcement. I would get tickets for a dry spot on he nieghbors lawn. Each time we had to fight it with upper up in the department. I was actually told that since I was disable I should never have moved to Eastvale. So I sold my house and moved away. Never looked back. I also was smart never ever told anyone I had chickens because I knew I would then have trouble.

I don't get the laws and people being idots chickens are pets. So many people are keeping pets that are illegal and yet want to take peoples chickens ?

 

[Arcane Araucana]

Quote:
These people are not gods and you should not treat them as gods just because they hold your fate in the fat little hands. 90% of these people don't even know what their ordinances are. The other 10% wrote them and will defend them to the death - right or wrong.

1. Stop dealing with people that don't know what they are talking about. Go to the top.
2. Get a zoning attorney. If you are in an unincorporated area, they are trying to promote their incorpation with certain rules and regulations. You could be "grandfathered" in because you are being incorporated into the new incorporation. The current zoning ordinances of Riverside County and Corona are valid and must be taken into consideration.
3. Raising chickens is perceived as a sign of poverty. You need to provide as much data as possible that you are raising chickens for your health, recreation and pursuit of happiness. Don't use the "pets" angle because all communities have limits on the number of pets you can have before you need a permit.
4. It is the zoning board that pays for the cost of complying with the laws of California. Kind of the "innocent until proven guilty" thing.
5. Only you know the truth of your situation. As much as I dislike legal counsel - sometimes you simply have to resort to them because everyone else has one.

 

[Sierra pachie bars]

ADA law applies if you are disable. You are allowed to have pets for theraphy. I know with me , my daughter suffers from one of the same illnesses I have. It is genetic. So when I started wth hens , my daughter at the time was very ill. Her teachers told me that they noticed a change in my daughter once we got hens. They felt like when she was with them she was in her own world. Which allowed her to detact from her world that at the time was alot of feeling yucky , getting blood work and many doctors and hospitals. So when I was in Eastvale I was more then prepared to fight then with ADA laws. If those apply I might be able to help you.
Also I no longer live in Eastvale , I live where I can have whatever animals I want. I might be able to help you house a few while you fight.