Michigan Right to Farm Law, what does it mean?

[Stc-Gromit]

Well I went to the village meeting again last night. It turns out that the councel had sent my request to the planning committee. They had 4 - 3 in favor and sent it back to the councel where we talked (debated) the topic again.
For the most part the council is being open minded and at least listening to my pros for having chickens. But there a few very closed minded individuals. They have the same arguements : Chickens are dirty, Chickens are noisy, Chickes attract preditors, Chickens Need more room than a Village lot, Passing the ordinance will putt more undue burdon on the police and village manager, Chickes do not belong in town and people will abuse the right to have chickens. And my favorite, The village manager said that he knows of another manager or county engineer that said townships all over are going in the other direction and getting rid of poultry in townships, that they have been nothing but problems.
So I hit them with facts: Chickens are dirty -- People are dirty. Lazy people have messy pets weather its poultry, dogs or cats. Noise -- Roosters can be loud, the neighbors dog is loud, the fighting cats in my back yard are loud. Laying hens might cluck. Attracting Predators -- We live in the middle of the shiawassee flats wildlife refuge. We have coon, skunk, fox, opossum, Coyote and free range cats all over our town now. Chickens need more room -- 5 chickens can be kept comfortable, clean and healthy in a coop the size of an S10 truck. More undue burdon -- They already have an ordinance that says no chickens, that is only inforced if their is a complaint. A pro chicken ordinance will still only be checked on if their is a complaint. And as for the anti chicken movement my village manager stated, I said show me one singe case where they are having truly negitave results from a pro chicken ordinance.
We do have a public duck pen in town where ducks and a crane are kept for public viewing. I asked the Councel how many complaints have been made for the loud noise and disruptive birds. They said none. I asked them if it stinks and is unclean and messy. They said no. That the pen is kept clean.. So poultry is not as bad as they say it is then.

 

[blackswan]

Newbie here to the forum..although I've lurked for over a year.

We live in New Baltimore and I'm preparing for a 'fight' with the city as their ordinance states no fowl that isn't commonly known as a pet (semantics IMHO).

However, I have carefully read the great posts that link the MRF and how it superseeds the local ordinances.

Our chicks are scheduled to arrive the last week in July.

Let's see what happens. I emailed one of the cousel members (whom we met when he was running for office) providing him links to what has been mentioned in this thread.

My intetentions are to keep 4-6 hens (no roosters) and sell the eggs that our family does not consume while following the accepted practices of chicken keeping.

Any thoughts/suggestions? Should I go to a meeting (it's scheduled on May 14,2012) or call before to be put on the agenda? I've NEVER gone to a meeting to express concerns etc.

TIA

 

[RaZ]

Here in Garden City, the ordinance reads,

§ 90.01 PETS; SALE OF ANIMALS; PROHIBITIONS.
(A) No person shall keep or house any animals or fowl within the city except dogs, cats, canaries, or animals commonly classified as pets, customarily kept or housed inside dwellings as household pets.

My arraignment is Tuesday.​

I'm going for a dismissal because the ordinance officer never saw or heard a single chicken but wrote the ticket simply because the witch next door complained.

However, I've been amassing every bit of documentation that I can get my hands on. Both the legal opinions and the publicity of the growing number of people keeping chickens as pets and for a food source.

 

[DReyRose]

My update is simple. I've had some crazy real life issues that came up and had to postpone building my coop. However, I started it last week and hope to complete it this weekend. By the next weekend I hope to purchase it and house it with my first batch of fully grown chickens. I'm not asking for permission, I'm going to make them take me to court, seems to be the way to go. I have my binders for the city and of course one to have on hand for my business part. I don't think I'm going to do the LLC as it has a continued cost and management part that I don't want to deal with each year at tax time. Instead, I'm going to keep simple bookkeeping since my operation is going to be simple. I have a compost bin, a plan for manure and will be selling my eggs to at least a dozen people so far. This should meet any requirements for MRTFA and of course I'll already be in compliance with GAAMPs.
In Garden City, I'd highly recommend knowing the "Site Selection" part as it seems that is the one the Dept of Agriculture says we don't fall under when they are trying to discourage us from our chickens. However, it clearly states in the title of it, "Livestock Production Facilities". You are not a "production facility", you are a 'farm operation' and they are both defined separately and completely differently. Know where to direct them for the definitions of BOTH, in the MSU Extension forms. You should be fine if you are more candid and explanatory as opposed to being, in your face because you are right. I also imagine that if you use statements with "Feel, felt, found". I.e. "Your Honor, I understand how you feel about this. As a matter of fact, I felt the same way when I began to look into getting chickens. However, what I found was, legally this has been supported and protected by the MRTA by these cases....." Or, "Yes Mr. Prosecuting Atty, I agree with how you feel, I know I felt the same way before I called the Dept. of Agriculture. THen I found out that a Livestock Production Facility was defined as having 50 units, at 100 chickens per unit, or basically a facility that houses 5000 chickens. Since I only have 6 hens, I fall under a farm operation as defined in the MSU Extension, which allows me protection from the MRTA."
I hope this works for you but we all know judges can interpret things as they wish. With the documentation you have, I"m quite certain you should be fine. Please post up and let us know. I was going to try and meet you there on Tuesday but I had something come up.


Crack and Egg..... (get it...crack an egg instead of break a leg? pffft...ohh...I crack me up!!! Doh! I did it again!!!)


Warm Regards


[email protected]

 

[laughingclown]

Here in Garden City, the ordinance reads,

§ 90.01 PETS; SALE OF ANIMALS; PROHIBITIONS.
(A) No person shall keep or house any animals or fowl within the city except dogs, cats, canaries, or animals commonly classified as pets, customarily kept or housed inside dwellings as household pets.

My arraignment is Tuesday.​

I'm going for a dismissal because the ordinance officer never saw or heard a single chicken but wrote the ticket simply because the witch next door complained.

However, I've been amassing every bit of documentation that I can get my hands on. Both the legal opinions and the publicity of the growing number of people keeping chickens as pets and for a food source.

Make sure you quote the Shelby Twp vs. Papesh case. For those of us who have small lots this is the best reference. The court rules cities cannot impose lot restrictions on us!

 

[RaZ]

Thanks folks,
I have a 3 inch high stack of printed documents with lots of highlighted case law.

Tuesday is merely the arraignment and I had originally thought I would not need to tote all the paperwork with me, but as I think about it, I'll take everything. If they don't dismiss the ticket out right, I'll politely let them know that I'm prepared for the long fight.

Here in Garden City, the prosecutor is contracted in and the judge has been assigned to hear cases in Inkster. Inkster has twice the case load of Garden City so perhaps they won't want to waste time on my petty little neighbor spat.

 

[wingless]

Crack an Egg, RaZ!

 

[hippychickster]

Good Luck Raz!!

 

[VikkiP]

Here are some local ordinances and pages that can be used for reference:

http://ferndale.patch.com/articles/ferndale-city-council-to-consider-chicken-ordinance-tonight
http://ferndale.patch.com/articles/ferndale-city-council-approves-backyard-chicken-ordinance

http://www.heritage.com/articles/2012/03/14/chelsea_standard/news/doc4f6107dd717c5868435975.txt

http://www.meetup.com/LansingBackyardPoultry/messages/boards/forum/1076470

 

[LaurieH]

Dear wingless, thanks for your info, but I'm sure in my case I would have had a real fight with the city, I won't go into details, but you're right I probably would have had to go to court. I hope someday for me this will change.