Prince William County, Virginia

[tvcole]

It didn't go well at the 7 July meeting. We had one person who objected, citing sanitation concerns. He said that the health department told him that chickens were a detriment to his well. He had no evidence, and the planners said the health department had no issue with 1 acre and made no mention of well contamination. 9 people spoke in favor of the proposal. In the end, the PWC planning commission reversed their earlier request to drop to 1 acre, and have revised the proposal back to 2 acres. Still, they took no action, and continued the issue to the 1 September meeting. It is tentatively scheduled to go before the PWC board of county supervisors on 10 October.

 

[theFox]

I wonder what the health department would say about his septic system?

Any system for storing, composting, or processing most manure wastes is usually required to be so many feet from a well.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
Agreed, you should get hard data about the requirements from a health standpoint rather than allowing a naysayer to raise "issues" that are in scientific error. Also (and I did not re-read all the posts, so it may be in some of the ones I missed), is there a number of chickens that will be allowed, or is it will vs won't? I did see that it was one rooster per acre (whihc is far too few IMHO, lol). The amount of manure from a handful of chickens is considerably less than that from several hundred, and the number that will be allowed should have direct impact on well water health issues.

 

[tvcole]

The number of chickens proposed was 10 per acre. We seem to be getting painted with the same brush as a commercial poultry venture. They simply can't understand having a small number of chickens. Considering the amount of waste produced by dogs versus chickens, we should probably be facing removal of all pets from the county!

Anyone having any information on the effect of animal waste on well water / septic systems would be appreciated. I found some information on composting in Bangladesh, but not sure it will convince local planners.

 

[theFox]

Quote:
The reason I posted what I did was to point out that the rules that cover septic systems should provide guidance for setback requirements in regards to wells.

ETA: Just make it absolutely clear to everyone a septic system is a manure storage and composting system and every single time I've looked at the siting rules for septic systems there is a requirement that the boundaries of the system be x feet from a well, there are also setback requirements from rivers, lakes, brooks, and streams etc ...

In the town I'm in all manure piles must be more than 100 feet from any well which if I remember correctly is also the requirement for the septic system.

The current rules for these already exist, they only need to add the same requirements for chicken runs.

 

[theFox]

About the removal of all pets from the country, there are groups that advocate that point of view.

Lack of common sense is known problem after all almost half of all people are of below normal intelligence.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
Talk to the County Health Department, or even the state health dept. SPeak to the Agriculture Dept and the State Vet. Heck, look up Michigan's GAAMPS provisions for Manure Management.

 

[tvcole]

On September 1, 2010, we will have our next opportunity to convince Prince William County of the wisdom of allowing chickens. The meeting will be at 7pm on Wednesday, 1 September, in the Board of County Supervisors chambers at the Prince William County complex on Prince William Parkway.

We have prepared a presentation and a proposed substitute amendment, which we will present during the meeting. Under the "citizen time" format, we are permitted only 3 minutes per citizen to make comments. Our brief in its present form takes about 15 minutes to present. We are allowed only 3 minutes per person to talk, so we will need at least 5 people to pull this off. Right now we have 2 people. Any volunteers?

I will post the brief and the propsed change to the ordinance are posted on our Yahoo Group website - http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/princewilliamcountypoultry/ .

I don't know what our chances are of success, but I know they improve with each person who shows up and speaks on our behalf.

Thanks!

Vic Cole

 

[matthewschickens]

Do you want me to write to the County Officials?

Let me know how I can help

I live in Hanover... Close by

Although I can't make it to the meetings I can try to help in any way you need

Let me know!

Matthew

 

[tvcole]

Any help would be appreciated! I have a list of the county supervisors and planning commission members on our Yahoo group in the Files area:
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/princewilliamcountypoultry/

Thanks!

Vic Cole