Marysville Kansas, doesn't allow chickens

[ChicknBaron]

It's dum. I see all these big cities around the nation that at least allow chickens, no matter how strict they are about it, and yet here we are a small, farming, community that doesn't even allow me to have 8 hens in the back of a fenced in, tiny little industrial park.

I have them in an industrial park, and now that some random citizen is throwing a big fit about everything that is "according to the ordinances" of the city even tho no one cared before. No one even cared for a whole 2 YEARS, until this guy came along and complained even tho he lives on the other side of town! Its clean and neat and tidy, and they still said that the nuisance, and "eyesore" has to be removed! it doesnt smell, i don't have a rooster, i don't have very many... seriously, come on!

If any one has any suggestions on things to bring up at the next city council meeting, that could help me keep my hens, it would be Extremely helpful

 

[CluckyCharms]

DISCLAIMER: I'm NOT a lawyer or a paralegal and I know nothing about law (except to obey it).

CHAPTER II. ANIMAL CONTROL AND REGULATION
Marysville, KS


2-218. KEEPING ANIMALS. It shall be unlawful for the owner, occupant, lessee or person in charge of any premises in the city to possess and maintain any animal or fowl within the city or permit to be maintained thereon any stable, shed, pen or other place where horses, mules, cattle, sheep, goats or swine, pigeons, chickens, ducks, geese, or any other undomesticated animals are kept.

Definition of undomesticated: living outdoors without taming or domestication by humans. The only way chickens would apply to this word is if they are WILD chickens, living by themselves, eating nothing but what they find themselves, drinking nothing but the water they find, and no human interaction.

This provision shall not apply to:
(a) The maintaining of horses and cows located on two or more contiguous acres of land;
(b) The maintaining of dogs which are regulated by Article 2 of this chapter;
(c) The maintaining of nonpoisonous and non-vicious animals and fowl which are commonly kept as household pets, such as hamsters, rabbits, parakeets and comparable animals, when kept as household pets and in a safe and sanitary manner in accordance with section 2-220 of this chapter. For purposes of this section and ordinance, pigeons, including racing pigeons, shall not be deemed household pets.
(d) The transporting of animals through the city by ordinary and customary means.
(e) The raising of stock and poultry as regulated by zoning regulations in the A-1 Agricultural District.

If you move your chickens to your OWN personal yard (home/backyard) instead of where they are now, as there is clearly no tolerance for that, and if you can find some way of providing proof that chickens are often kept as household pets you might have a case (a slim one).


It states they must be kept in a safe and sanitary manner in accordance with section 2-220 of this chapter. According to this portion alone (I haven't looked at all of it), it says that pigeons are the only fowl that are NOT deemed household pets (does not say chickens).

Section 220:

2-220. ANIMAL CONFINES; SHELTERS. (a) It shall be unlawful for any person to keep or maintain any animal in any yard, structure or area that is not clean, dry and sanitary, free from debris and offensive odors that annoy any neighbor, and devoid of rodents and vermin.
(b) Excrement shall be removed at least once each week from any animal shelter, pen or yard area where animals are kept, or more often if necessary to prevent or control odors, fly breeding, or rodent infestation. All such stored or accumulated waste shall be disposed of at least once each week in adequate fly-tight containers.
(c) All animal shelters, pens and yards shall be so located that adequate drainage is obtained, normal drying occurs, and standing water is not present.
(d) All animal shelters and board fences confining animals shall be maintained in good repair, and all animal shelters and board fences confining animals subject to residential and commercial classification shall be protected from deterioration by painting or comparable treatment.
(e) Barbed wire fences and electrically charged fences shall not be permitted for animal confines.
(f) All premises on which animals are kept shall be subject to inspection by the animal control officer, duly authorized law enforcement officer, or public health official. If the officer or official determines from such inspection that the premises are not maintained in a clean and sanitary manner, he or she shall notify the owner of the animals in writing to correct the sanitation deficiencies within 24 hours after hours after notice is served on the owner. Any animal kept under any condition which could endanger the public or animal health or create a health nuisance may be impounded. Animals shall be released after fees are paid and cause for impoundment has been corrected.

You also said they told you that your chickens were a nuisance and needed to be removed. Yet, you say you have no roosters and their coop is neat and tidy.
So what do they consider a nuisance??

2-211. NUISANCES. (a) Any person who keeps or harbors any dog or cat shall prevent such dog or cat from being a nuisance. A dog or cat shall be considered a nuisance if it: damages, soils, defiles or defecates on private property other than its keeper’s or harborer’s, or on public rights-of-way or recreation areas, unless such waste is immediately removed and properly disposed of by its keeper or harborer; causes unsanitary, dangerous or offensive conditions; or chases vehicles, or molests, attacks or interferes with persons or domestic animals on property other than property of its harborer or keeper.
(b) The keeping or harboring of any animal which by frequent and habitual barking, howling, yelping, mewing, roaring or screeching shall disturb the peace of any neighborhood is hereby prohibited. It shall be the duty of any person harboring or keeping such noisy animal or animals to abate the condition, and if he or she fails to do so, the city may abate it by taking up, impounding and/or disposing of the animal at the expense of the owner. Any complaint under this sub-paragraph must be signed by at least one landowner or occupant who resides within 300 feet of the property whereon such noisy animal is located.
(c) There shall be a rebuttable presumption that a nuisance is created if any person keeps or harbors more than three (3) dogs or cats, or any combination of such animals exceeding five (5) in number, over the age of six months, upon any premises within the city of Marysville, unless such premises are licenses as a kennel by the city of Marysville and the State of Kansas.

The ordinance regarding nuisance doesn't even apply to your chickens if they are in the state (condition) in which you claim and therefore they have no case in regard to the nuisance part. Roosters shouldn't be allowed in urban cities ( I HATE it too, I would love to have a rooster) but they are extremely loud and buying ear plugs for all of your neighbors could prove costly in more ways than one (yes that's my attempt at humor). Lastly - dog and cat are the only animals specifically mentioned in a).


IF nothing else - I think the actual ordinances regarding your problem, in the city of Marysville, KS are sloppily written at best. You may not have an easy time keeping your chickens, but I believe there is more than enough questionable material in your ordinances to at least let you keep your chickens long enough to get a posse and try to change the ordinance in your favor.
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SOURCE: http://www.cityofmarysvilleks.com/Chapter_II.pdf

I'm wrong 90% of the time, but 10% of the time I am right, so regardless of whether I'm throwing myself out for the wolves - there's a 10% chance that I'm not.

 

[chickortreat]

The simple fact remains that gone are the days when men were men in America. Now some pansy wants to pitch a fit over you having chickens and try to "make' you get rid of them. In the good old days, you could meet him out somewhere, give him a good smacking around, and he'd be better for it. I'd be rather ashamed of myself to know I went and "tattled" on a chicken owner. Must make a grown man proud to do such a thing......