New in Lower Township, Nj.

[ErinKC]

Hello everyone,

I'm new here, but I have been lurking for quite a long time. I'm finally moving to my dream house in Lower Township (Cape May) Nj. to a colonial on a half an acre. I have always wanted to have a small flock of laying chickens. However, I just realized that in Lower Township apparently you have to have an acre of land by law to have chickens. This seems a little extreme to me. My half an acre is massive and plenty of room for a chicken run. Here is the link to another forum here on byc where a girl had to give up her 4 H chickens.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...nj-residents-forced-to-give-up-their-chickens

How can I go about getting this law changed so I can finally have my chickens next year? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. I will continue to search threads for scientific documentation to provide for the chamber of commerce. But if someone has already done the leg work I would love to see the information you presented to have the laws changed. This is a rural community. This law seems somewhat crazy.

Thanks!

Erin

 

[TwoCrows]

I have never had to deal with changing laws. But we do have a section here on BYC that you might check out...Chicken Laws and How To Change Them. Hopefully this will help you out...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/37/local-chicken-laws-ordinances-and-how-to-change-them

Good luck with this. I surely hope you can get these laws changed.

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! Good luck with getting the codes changed. X2 on the Laws forum, and you might try the NJ state thread for other NJ people https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/537/new-jersey

 

[ErinKC]

Thank you for the recommendations. Changing this is going to be top on my list when we close on the house. I'll keep searching the threads and looking for good messaging.

 

[gander007]

 

[drumstick diva]

I hope you prevail.

 

[sourland]

I have never had to deal with changing laws. But we do have a section here on BYC that you might check out...Chicken Laws and How To Change Them. Hopefully this will help you out...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/37/local-chicken-laws-ordinances-and-how-to-change-them

Good luck with this. I surely hope you can get these laws changed.

Hi, Erin, welcome to BYC. Good luck - I've heard that Cape May can be tough.

 

[ErinKC]

Well, technically the house is in Lower Township. Not the City of Cape May. So hopefully that will help me out. I just can't believe that a half an acre isn't deemed big enough for a small pet flock. To me after having been living in cities for the past 15 years, this house and land seems massive to me! I'm gathering lots of information and speaking with some people in NJ who have managed to change zoning in their townships. So hopefully I can move forward.

 

[KrystinaMayKennedy]

Well, technically the house is in Lower Township. Not the City of Cape May. So hopefully that will help me out. I just can't believe that a half an acre isn't deemed big enough for a small pet flock. To me after having been living in cities for the past 15 years, this house and land seems massive to me! I'm gathering lots of information and speaking with some people in NJ who have managed to change zoning in their townships. So hopefully I can move forward.

Hey! I’m in Lower with some “outlaw” birds- I agree, the law is antiquated. I am shy of an acre but have AMPLE room for my flock!

 

[DobieLover]

Hey! I’m in Lower with some “outlaw” birds- I agree, the law is antiquated. I am shy of an acre but have AMPLE room for my flock!

Unfortunately, the OP hasn't been back on this site in over 6 years. This thread if very zombie.
Perhaps the zoning laws have changed in all that time. Check with your local governing authority.