Jacksonville, FL petition to change city statute to allow hens

[TheGardenAtJacksonSquare]

In Jacksonville, FL, it is against city statute for us to keep chickens. BUT, there is a petition going around to change that. You can also sign it online.

http://www.petitiononline.com/hens4jax/petition.html

"To: Jacksonville City Council

We, the undersigned, would like the right to urban chicken keeping in Jacksonville/Duval County, Florida. We would like to change the city ordinance to allow a limited number of hens to be kept on private property. We believe our current code protects us from any public nuisance or health hazards (Sec. 656.403). We believe that chicken keeping is a healthy, economic, and sustainable way to feed and enrich our families and our communities. We believe that this type of thinking will also exhibit the positive living that is a part of our wonderful city to potential residents.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned "

If you do not live in Jacksonville, FL - you are unfortunately not eligible to sign.

http://www.petitiononline.com/hens4jax/petition.html

You can also check out the group on facebook that has started this:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hens-in-Jax/185154791529455

 

[ChickyFlicky]

This is awesome. I signed!

 

[ace3838]

I just read through the jacksonville fl city code. It says that you can have household pets. If you look in the definitions section a houshold pet cannot be poultry, But it does say domesticated fowl is ok. If you look up poultry it says fowl normally raised for food. So my thinking is have some hens as pets. Any thoughts?

 

[flgardengirl]

In Jacksonville, only properties zoned ag or rural residential can have poultry as far as I know. I moved to a rural residential property specifically so I could have chickens. I think the whole city should at least be allowed to have hens. I can see not having roosters on a small lot. Jacksonville could charge a fee for a hen permit like a lot of other cities do. I know they sure could use the $. There are a lot of older folks and people who do not drive in the inner city. There are also not many stores that carry groceries at a reasonable price. If you go into certain neighborhoods all you see is fast food restaurants, beauty salons, bars and gas stations. It only makes sense that people should be allowed to raise their own food. I believe I signed this awhile back but never heard anything about an outcome.

 

[FireTigeris]

The Duval County Extension Office/UF IFAS will be holding a workshop on Raising Backyard Poultry on Tuesday, February 28, 2012 at 6PM. The topics to be covered include: Breed Selection, Nutrition and Feeding, Basic Management and recycling of chicken litter, changing city ordinance and petition update and general tips.

This workshop will be at the Duval County Extension Office. The workshop is free with light refreshments furnished by Standard Feed & Seed, Dinsmore Feed & Supply and Purina Mills. Please call Becky Davidson at 904-255-7450 to pre-register or for more information.

 

[FireTigeris]

In Jacksonville, only properties zoned ag or rural residential can have poultry as far as I know. I moved to a rural residential property specifically so I could have chickens. I think the whole city should at least be allowed to have hens. I can see not having roosters on a small lot. Jacksonville could charge a fee for a hen permit like a lot of other cities do. I know they sure could use the $. There are a lot of older folks and people who do not drive in the inner city. There are also not many stores that carry groceries at a reasonable price. If you go into certain neighborhoods all you see is fast food restaurants, beauty salons, bars and gas stations. It only makes sense that people should be allowed to raise their own food. I believe I signed this awhile back but never heard anything about an outcome.

Correct RR or AG1 and AG2 can have poultry- I'm exempt on 198 year old land.

See above for the new petition opportunity (in person).

 

[bruce poertner]

I have lived in both the city of jax...working at bmc for 20 years. also had a stay in starke where I had lotsa chickens. They are a positive source of food and actually are well worth having. I'm sure a few hens in a rural setting would be fine if kept from being a nuisance. Feed the hens, eat the roosters...lol!

 

[bruce poertner]

will keep my new friends posted on the growth of my new project.

 

[bruce poertner]

I've been looking at the different type coops and really was impressed by the one made by mark. I heave a guitarist/carpenter that will help build my coop.

 

[informative]

First off it is not only ridiculous to ban chickens (at least in anything other than an inner city "urban utopia" - sarcasm intended) it is a vast abuse and a HUGE government intrusion into the lives of its citizens. Let's just summarize that part by saying if you allow a simple healthful pleasure like fetching fresh hot eggs from your nests in the morning to be trampled outright by anal dogwalkers then there is NO limit to what you fully accept may be taken from you, demanded of you and denied to you.

Next if you analyze the motivations behind what drives cities to strive to impose such ordinances there are threefold.

First, is always TAXES. If they ban livestock then people lose their livestock tax exemptions. Most areas won't even grant exemptions to anything smaller than 10 acres but regardless it is a brick in the wall of tax harvesting. Just like speed traps and red light cameras, the quickest way to ensure the wage slaves pay every penny is to build a full quilt of tax collectingstrategies. Collectively it forms a tapestry of tax oppression that ensures that the taxpayers who pay for everything pay well and pay often.

Second, you have your local lawn police (the anal dogwalker crowd) you know the folks who call the city ordinance guy to complain if your lawn grows to 11 inches tall - tsk tsk. Certainly they could not bear the thought of their neighborhood having any chicken cluck noises but it's certainly fine OF COURSE if their miniature pee-brained chihuahua yaps ALL day long at ANYTHING that moves.

Lastly you have your property value queens. Similar to the dogwalker crowd but their concerns are at least legitimate and not based exclusively on narcissicm. They want every home to look the same and have neat manicured yards and fresh paint so when the time comes for them to sell their home their neighbors have all done their part in advance.

The last group can be worked with by simply addressing their concerns and pointing out that by banning common sense things like chickens you also are banning prospective buyers. The first two types cannot be reasoned with and must be fought and beaten like an old carpet. "a dozen hens" is a good thing to shoot for if the noise of roosters is claimed to be an issue - but two or three roos is also worth fighting for usually.

The thing that gets me is the "obtaining a permit" part. Most places simply remove the ordinance banning chickens and the idea that someone must obtain a license or permit to have chickens is a whole new order of magnitude of obscene!