Need help understanding local ordinance please....UPDATE :)

[ScootchsMom]

Hi! My name is Liz and this is my first post here. I've been lurking for a few weeks, since we decided we wanted to get chickens. My husband was at the township office Monday morning on another issue and mentioned to them about our plans. They are now saying we absolutely can not have chickens. I think its a bunch of baloney, as the ordinance does not read that way. We are zoned R1, which I guess means residential. Our property is a little under 4 acres of woods with our house at one end of the property. (We live in Lackawaxen Township, PA)

Here is what the ordinance says:

"525.4 Keeping of Other Animals
The keeping of animals such as cows, steers, goats, sheep, swine, and other similar
domesticated animals shall be permitted as an accessory use to a single -family residence
in any District in accord with the following criteria:
A. A minimum parcel of two (2) acres shall be required.
B. The keeping of any such animal on a parcel of less than ten (10) acres in any
District except the RU District shall be considered a conditional use and the Township
may, in addition to the setbacks required in this Section 525, require additional setbacks
and/or buffers in accord with Section 514 of this Ordinance.
C. Not more than the following number of animals shall be kept on the mini mum two
(2) acre parcel.
1. Cows or steers - two (2)
2. Swine - two (2)
3. Goats or sheep - four (4)
4. Fowl, rabbits, or other small furbearing animals - fifty (50)
D. The following number of animals may be kept for each additional full acre of
land:
1. Cows or steers - one (1)
2. Swine - one (1)
3. Goats or sheep - two (2)
4. Fowl, rabbits, or other small furbearing animals - twenty-five (25)
E. The new construction of a stable building, pen, feed lot, corral or other area where
animals are kept shall not be permitted unless such structure or area is located one -
hundred (100) feet or more from any existing dwelling unit not located on the same parcel
as the structure or area, fifty (50) feet or more from any adjoining property line, and one -
hundred (100) feet or more from any public or private road. These setback requirements
shall not apply to the use of an accessory structure as a stable building or pen if said
structure was existing at the effective date of this Zoning Ordinance amendment .

F.All animals shall be restricted from grazing or intruding on an adjoining property and
any fences erected for the same shall be at least five (5) feet from the property line or
public or private road.
G. No swine shall, in any case or manner, be kept l ess than two-hundred (200) feet from
any adjoining property line and one -hundred fifty (150) feet from any public or private
road."


We already did measurements and have enough room to erect a coop within the required distances from the property lines and the road. I am not seeing where it says "No chickens" for an R1 area. Am I missing something? I'm am really saddened by this and this is not what I moved to the country for, we moved here to give our kids a better life and to expose them to things they would never have in the city - animals, nature, all that great stuff.

Please help.

Liz

 

[EweSheep]

I think they are off their rocker.

You CAN have chickens, as stated in the ordiance!

 

[ScootchsMom]

Thanks. I thought maybe I was crazy and not reading something right. I'm definitely going to fight them on this, I want my chickens!

Liz

 

[misspennyloise]

Hi , when I read it it did not say anything against chickens!!! I would go ahead and just be discreet... that's what I do My gosh you have 4 acres . Go for it

Good luck.

 

[Sactown Chickens]

One of the criteria is that on less than 10 acres it is a conditional use. This may require you to obtain a conditional use permit first. If your township has a planning department they would be the ones to contact regarding this. Other than that one item, it appears you can easily meet all the standards contained in the ordinance.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

B. The keeping of any such animal on a parcel of less than ten (10) acres in any
District except the RU District shall be considered a conditional use and the Township
may, in addition to the setbacks required in this Section 525, require additional setbacks
and/or buffers in accord with Section 514 of this Ordinance.

This is where they feel they have authority to say "no." So you need to find out what kind of conditions have been required of others, then file whatever paperwork is needed for the permit.​

 

[Little Chicky]

Quote:
This is where they feel they have authority to say "no." So you need to find out what kind of conditions have been required of others, then file whatever paperwork is needed for the permit.

I think that just means that if you live on less than 10 acres, they are allowed to make some extra rules (The buildings have to be a certain size, the chickens can't wander free, ect.). I don't think it means that they can say no, just that they can regulate it more closely.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

They could make the conditions so preposterous that they could not be met on less than the 10 acres.

However, I do see the conditional use phrase as opening the door to the township saying "no." If they had left out the phrase "shall be considered a conditional use " and merely said

B. In the keeping of any such animal on a parcel of less than ten (10) acres in any District except the RU District,

delete:shall be considered a conditional use and

the Township may, in addition to the setbacks required in this Section 525, require additional setbacks and/or buffers in accord with Section 514 of this Ordinance.​

 

[fhdogs]

They are wrong. Maybe they didn't know your lot size off hand. If most lots are smaller in your town the prob. assumed yours was too.

According the that article you can have up to 100 chickens. You will however need a conditional use permit. I don't know how hard it is to get one in your town, but where I am conditional use permits are a piece of cake. You apply for it, post it for 14 days, and it's approved. Unless of course a neighbor sees your posted permit and fights it.

Around here "conditional use" is just a means of giving people the opportunity to oppose the permit. Of course if you don't post the application right on the edge of the road with a big arrow pointing to it, nobody's likely to even see a sheet of paper on your house.

 

[Sactown Chickens]

Regarding a conditional use, I'm not sure of the rules in your township, but here in CA, a conditional use has to be approved by the Planning Commission, there is a formal public hearing where all neighbors within a certain radius of the property are told about the item and invited to attend and make comments, and it is not a "rubber stamp" kind of thing. The staff person assigned to the application has to make specific findings for a yes or no recommendation and provide a logical explanation for why they are making the particular recommendation. Make sure to check to see just what exactly the ordinance means by conditional use.