Raising chickens against zoning laws!

[ukuleledave]

It will take some educating -- and even then, some people will not allow themselved to be educated. This article is well-researched, although it discusses city chickens and regulations.

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2119494

During WWI, patriotic Americans were encouraged to keep chickens for food. The country was much less suburbanized than now.

Areas which allow dogs and cats have NO reason to stop us from keeping chickens if we are responsible. I can legally have 4 major poop-producing big dogs. Compare the environmental and community impact of 4 dogs vs. 10 chickens. It is not even close!

Whenever I talk about the chickens, I always call them "birds." I have a few birds in the back -- but I probably have 100 wild birds in my trees at any given moment. My ladies are a minor impact.

 

[nikki1]

Yeah, I'm not as much of an outlaw as some of you, but I'm still over the line. My 1.5 acres straddles the town limit. About a third of it is within city limits, the other 2/3 is out...understanding I use the term "city" loosely. It's a small, rural community. Within city limits you can have 5 hens, outside no real limits. The people just below our property have geese, roosters, pigs, cattle, and pretty much anything else, so we haven't worried much.

I have 7 hens, and occasionally I worry a little. If the city wanted to be poopy about it, they could say I'm over the limit, even though we're only partly in town. Our one and only neighbor family is a little prickly, and both parents are out-of-area cops. Of course, they have fires in their wood stove during burn bans, their house weimeraner runs loose and poops in our front yard, their 2 weimeraners confined to a run got out, broke into our back yard, and killed four of our pullets, and I haven't seen a license on any of the dogs, but I'm still worried about The Authorities. Sigh. Stupid neighbors, anyway.

--Nikki

 

[MariaLynn]

Hi, new to the boards as we're just starting our chicken adventures. I checked on the zoning regulations for our suburban neighborhood a few months ago and talked to a guy in the zoning department and he was very nice about helping figure out where would work on our 3/4 acre. Today I called back and talked to someone different and got a different story saying we had to be 50 feet from any property lines so we pretty much would not be able to put up a coop. We live in a township just on the outside of the main city which allows chickens even in small backyards so I don't understand why it's more strict for us. I don't want to go ahead and get chickens "illegally" and then have to get rid of them for any reason later as they'll be pets for our children as well. I'm so upset right now and not sure what to do next...

 

[joan1708]

MariaLynn. Check the ordinance yourself. Make sure it says property line and not residence or structure. Most ordinances say residence or property line. People that work for the city and even code enforcement people don't always know the ordinances and I frequently hear of folks getting misinformation from the city. It's amazing to me the number of people who "make it up as they go". With 3/4 acre there should be somewhere on your property that you can legally have a chicken coop. I guess unless you have a long skinny plot with neighbors on all sides.

 

[HippyChick29438]

Yay for us outlaws! I too have chickens in my backyard. I would love to change the law in this city but have no clue where to start.

 

[Teery]

So, knowing it's not allowed then if and when you get caught and told you must dispose of the birds you're not going to complain are you?

You give the city to much credit...Where does the city derive its jurisdiction from to regulate live stock? Further, a city, state, federal government has no obligation or duty to "protect" which puts it in a legal dilemma should the city ever decide to act on a belief to protect. Unfortunately, to many people are ignorant of the so-called law and the multi billion dollar a year revenue stream called the legal system...

 

[CrazyTalk]

I have heard ther are loopholes in the law in some places that allow people to take over someone else's property if they have been using it for a number of years. So if his workshop is on your property fo say 10 years, he might be able to legally take ownership of it. I'm not an attorney, I just read something about it.

It's called adverse possession, and it's not a loophole.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adverse_possession

 

[CrazyTalk]

You give the city to much credit...Where does the city derive its jurisdiction from to regulate live stock? Further, a city, state, federal government has no obligation or duty to "protect" which puts it in a legal dilemma should the city ever decide to act on a belief to protect. Unfortunately, to many people are ignorant of the so-called law and the multi billion dollar a year revenue stream called the legal system...

According to the Supreme Court (and I agree), the Constitution is where they derive their right and jurisdiction.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoning_in_the_United_States

 

[Teery]

According to the Supreme Court (and I agree), the Constitution is where they derive their right and jurisdiction.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoning_in_the_United_States

Theoretically speaking, what is the Constitution? Why do you agree?

And by the way, what facts and evidence do you rely upon that implies any city, state, or federal government has jurisdiction over private property? Statutes and laws are not facts...They are words on paper..

 

[limaro]

When chickens are outlawed, only outlaws will have chickens.

I'm not particularly rebellious, but it looks like I'm in good company as I roll the dice and start my chicken project anyway. I really thought I understood the zoning and that we could have up to 6 hens on our almost 1 acre lot. After a call to the township to clarify(anonymous) turns out we need to be 100 feet from any property line, too. With our steepish hill and irregular shaped lot, it's not possible. Darn the fine print.



I've talked to the immediate neighbors, and they're okay. Keeping the coop inconspicuos as well as immaculately clean. Cross your fingers for me, all you outlaws!
I hope and suspect that compliance is too busy keeping up with overgrown weeds on the foreclosed houses to bother me.