iluvcks, do NOT let them scare you. If you can prove that you are, in fact, selling eggs/chicks they cannot touch you. The Michigan RTF Act supercedes any and all local ordinances...including zoning. If you are legitimately operating as a business, you do not have to obtain permission of any kind from zoning or any other local entity. We briefly had a run-in with zoning here in Salem Township. They were trying to limit the amount of animals we could have on our property. If you go to the Michigan Department of Agriculture's web page and do some searching, you can find some interesting cases to use as reference. My husband found a case similar to yours, in which a family with some chickens were being harrassed by their township. It went all the way to the Supreme Court. The ruling was for the family. The judge said the MRTFA clearly supercededs any local ordinances. He even said, as an example, that if a family wanted to start a chicken operation in the middle of downtown Detroit, they could do so...no matter what the local ordinances were. The ONLY stipulation is that you have to follow GAAMP (Generally Accepted Agricultural Management Practices). The only way your local officials can get to you is to petition to MDA to come out and investigate, claiming that you are not following GAAMP. They would have to prove that you are in some way mistreating the animals or the land. IF they were to do that, and if they cannot prove it, the township would have to reimburse you for any legal fees that you procure. The way the Act is written, you can even file suit for harrassment against your township.
All we had to do was send a copy of the MRTFA to our Township Supervisor, along with a copy of the law suit that I was telling you about. We politely educated him, and let him know that his Zoning official was harrassing us. We also let him know that his zoning official was putting the township in jeaordy of a harrassment lawsuit, and that we would be compensated for any and all legal fees if we had to go there. We haven't heard a word since. Read the MDA website in regard the RTFA. Call them and talk to someone about it. They will help you. What your township officials are doing to you right now is like a small town cop trying to investigate an FBI case. They are waaaaay off base, and they cannot touch you.
All we had to do was send a copy of the MRTFA to our Township Supervisor, along with a copy of the law suit that I was telling you about. We politely educated him, and let him know that his Zoning official was harrassing us. We also let him know that his zoning official was putting the township in jeaordy of a harrassment lawsuit, and that we would be compensated for any and all legal fees if we had to go there. We haven't heard a word since. Read the MDA website in regard the RTFA. Call them and talk to someone about it. They will help you. What your township officials are doing to you right now is like a small town cop trying to investigate an FBI case. They are waaaaay off base, and they cannot touch you.
