Just talked to our code enforcement officer

[ADozenGirlz]

Just wondering aloud why it is that people cannot live and let live when situations do not affect them?!

 

[amsunshine]

ACK. A friend of mine used to be an attorney and she had given me the following advice:

1. Reading the ordinance is not the full extent of understanding the ordinance. It is necessary to read the "legislative notes" to get the full extent of the ordinance.

2. The laws can be "bent" on an individual basis by applying for a variance. In other words, that circumstance should be something individual that would help the person applying, but not show favoritism (an example escapes me right now).

I've got a call in to my attorney since this "unincorporated" thing is kind of sticky and hard to find laws about in the first place. I feel sorry for anyone who's on the other end of his argument! He learned from his dad and he learned well!

 

[amsunshine]

I dunno, ADozenGirlz. This neighbor's wife tells me that the guy across the street told her that some neighborhood kids have popped over her fence numerous times and swam in her inground pool, one of those times they all even SKINNYDIPPED. Plus these high school kids are smoking and drinking at the edge of her property and she says, "Well I guess I should talk with their parents." YA THINK????????????? And they have time to bother me about CHICKENS!!?!?!?!?!?! I RETRACT my offer for free eggs, in that case! If I'm gonna be an underground chicken owner, then NOBODY around here is getting ANY eggs!!!! Can't have anybody know in that case! Everyone loses! THAT's a GREAT scenario!!!

Thanks for letting me vent....

 

[MN Chicken]

Quote:
I hate that you are ging through this, but it is good to know I am in good company. I don't know what being unincorporated means though...

 

[amsunshine]

Yeah well misery loves company I guess...

Unincorporated means that you belong to NO municipality. In other words, if we have the suburbs of Plum, Cherry, and Blueberry near to each other, there might be some space between them that doesn't fall in the boundaries of Plum, Cherry, or Blueberry...kind of their own thing so to speak. I think that normally the jurisdiction is then the county, but around here I'm having a problem even navigating who the heck would be the person to talk to.

 

[MN Chicken]

Oh boy...we have a place like that near here. You mention the address of my uncle's farm, and the post office says it doesn't exist. I'll do some digging around.

 

[ADozenGirlz]

a

 

[Whitewater]

I'm following this with great interest and hope that the OP will continue to post updates on what they do. The main reason I'm so interested is because I live less than 5 miles from the southern border of White Bear Lake, in Saint Paul MN and the law here within the city limits is quite unclear.

At the moment, the law on the books says that you can only have one chicken, and need permission from 75% of your neighbors to have more. A recent city council meeting changed that to allow more than one chicken (with the same 75% thing) BUT added permit costs and since this only happened back in October, A) it's not on the books yet officially, I'm pretty sure, and B) the single mention of the changed law in the city council meeting minutes doesn't specify what the permit fee is or how it's structured. Is it $80/year? $80/chicken/year? $24/chicken? Who do you pay? Can you have up to 3 chickens *without* a permit (or paying the fees) if 75% of your neighbors don't object? And those are just the questions I remember having back when I was looking into having chickens of my own!

Yeah. The new amendment makes things quite confusing, and I find it intimidating to try to unravel the truth. Hence, no chickens for me.

Interestingly, when I was doing my research for St. Paul, I found White Bear's city ordinances online and I read them that it would be rare for people to have chickens in White Bear because hardly anybody lives in the correct zone. Obviously, I was wrong!

I'd love to get eggs from somebody in White Bear Lake, I don't want to have to drive a good 35-45 minutes one way to get them, which is what I'm looking at now. Heck, I'd even pay up to $3/doz if there really are that many chicken keepers 5 miles from where I live

More importantly, I am wholeheartedly behind the OP. White Bear Lake is a close-knit community, but it's not in the middle of any urban area. There's no real reason that certain folks couldn't have a few chickens over there.


Whitewater

 

[MN Chicken]

Whitewater,

I grew up in St. Paul! The change in St. Paul was to LOWER existing permit fees. You can own up to 3 chickens with a yearly permit fee of $25, but only after inspection from animal control ((651) 266-1100) of your coop, etc. If you have over 3 chickens, the permit fee is $72 a year, and you need the same inspection from animal control. They do not exclusively exclude roosters. Basically you need to find out which of your neighbors are within 150 feet of your property, and get a written statement from them permissing you to own chickens. Once you have 75% approval, schedule a visit from animal control to get a "keeping of animals" permit. When you get those two things done, you are good to go, and just have to pay your fees. You have to renew every year. Here is the website that walks your through the process:

https://www.stpaul.gov/index.aspx?NID=1637

I agree that White Bear Lake is no where near Urban, we all have big back yards, and we are a close knit small town community that leans the way of sustainable living practices. It is also weird that white bear lake does not allow chickens, as we are that quintessential community that you would imagine would welcome them.

I will continue to post updates, and hopefully we have a positive outcome. I hope for the best, as all of our council members are new since november of last year, and are very interested in the voice of the community.

 

[dumb_cluck]

Same thing happened to me, but instead of chickens, it was a miniature horse. There are several people keeping large horses within .2 mile (that' 2 10ths) of my place. When I called the zoning people BEFORE I got him, they said "we don't go looking for horses".

However, it just takes one A-hole neighbor to set the wheels in motion. After trying a variance (which they adamantly denied) and a zoning board hearing (with my lawyer in tow), I eventually paid big bucks to find out..."get rid of the horse or pay a fine, go to jail and we will confiscate"

So, I moved into a rural area with my horse. Got ducks and now working on chickens.

To read more, go here: http://www.thebigskyranch.com

BTW, I am located in NYS