Seeking advice on letter to public health for permit to raise chickens

[confusedturtle]

Hello my name is Amanda and I live in Norfolk Virginia. I have been lurking on this site for a few weeks and finally decided to post for advice. In Norfolk you are allowed to raise backyard chickens ONLY if you are granted a permit from the Department of Public Health. The people I talked to who finally gave me the info i need for contacting the right department at the public health department said that permits for raising chickens here have historically not been granted but with the current economy there is always a chance and possibly if written well enough I can get a permit to do it. I want to make sure I write a great letter so that hopefully I (and hopefully others will follow) can get a permit. I believe that raising chickens will be a great learning experience for my children and will provide them with a very healthy diet as well. I hope to one day become a teacher and I take every opportunity to turn everything into a learning experience for my children. I was wondering if anyone has applied for permits in their area and were granted one, if so how did you write your letter and what information did you put in or leave out to make sure they had all needed information and knew that you were a responsible caring person who wants to raise chickens to help your family and assure they are eating the most healthy foods and learning about where their food comes from and how? Any advice or tips are greatly appreciated, have a great day

 

[Woodcutterron]

Quote:
Well there isn't a chance that I would write such a letter. It sounds like they expect you to beg, and beg well. I'd be more apt to write a letter demanding they grant the permit or show just, reasonable, and well supported data that demonstrates any actual and substantial risk the the public health , and make it perfectly clear they will end up wasting some of their resources unnecessarily if they don't grant it.

Can you post the actual regulation? Something sounds fishy in their interpretation.

 

[chickortreat]

Quote:
No chance I'd write a letter either. I'd just get the chickens (no rooster, of course) and worry about what happened when it happened. If someone said anything, I'd challenge them to prove I had chickens. Whilst they were gone to get a warrant, I'd move them somewhere else........of course this is easy for me to say because I live out in the country with no neighbors except my parents.

My heart goes out to those who live in oppressive communities that do nothing to prevent crime, or juvenile delinquency, but rather focus on telling the honest, hard-working populace what they can and can't do/have.....

 

[calista]

Amanda, I commend you for asking for advice to teach your children these values LEGALLY and thus would recommend following due process to get your permission.

Everything you will need to make your case is included in this EXCELLENT presentation:

http://www.roelandpark.net/citygov/minutes/2010workshops/Admin/Agenda Admin for 6-28-10.pdf

(Personally, the pic of the little girls with their pet chickens would have done it for me alone.)

Good luck to you and I hope you are successful in your quest.

Table of Contents
Introduction ..............................................................................................................................3
Montgomery Currently Has Chickens With No Problems ..........................................3
Laws in Nearby Suburbs........................................................................................................4
Chickens and the History of Suburban Development..................................................5
Why Were Chickens Prohibited by Earlier Lawmakers? .................................................... 5
What About Homeowners’ Association Agreements? .......................................................... 5
Chickens For Montgomery’s Proposed Ordinance .......................................................5
Backyard Chickens Are Not Farm Animals .....................................................................6
Backyard Coops are Attractive and Clean .......................................................................6
Chickens Are Not a Nuisance................................................................................................7
Chickens Are Not Smelly................................................................................................................. 7
Chickens are Not Messy .................................................................................................................. 7
Chickens Are Not Noisy................................................................................................................... 7
Chickens Do Not Annoy the Neighbors ...................................................................................... 7
Chickens Do Not Attract Predators to the Area ...................................................................... 8
Many Residential Communities Allow Chickens Without Causing A Nuisance ........... 8
Chickens Do Not Pose a Public Health Risk.....................................................................8
Chickens and the Environment...........................................................................................9
Water Quality and Runoff .............................................................................................................. 9
Greenhouse Gas Emissions............................................................................................................ 9
Living Sustainably ............................................................................................................................ 9
Chickens and Property Values ......................................................................................... 10
Lot Size Doesn’t Matter ....................................................................................................... 10
Chickens Are Educational .................................................................................................. 11
Chickens and Emergency Preparedness....................................................................... 11
Chickens and the Economic Crisis................................................................................... 11
Code Enforcement and Burdens on Government ...................................................... 11
The Urban/Suburban Chicken Movement ................................................................... 12
Appendices............................................................................................................................. 13
Appendix A: Chicken Ordinances in Neighboring Communities ....................................13
Appendix B: Backyard Coops.....................................................................................................15
Appendix C: The New Coop de Ville (Newsweek 11/17/08)..............................................17
Appendix D: Greenhouse Gas Emissions.................................................................................21
Appendix E: Letters of Support ..................................................................................................23
Appendix F: Property Values by Chicken Ordinance Type...............................................25
Appendix G: History of Prohibitions on ChickenKeeping...............................................
26
Appendix H: Successful Chicken Keeping in Montgomery in 2009................................27

 

[Woodcutterron]

Quote:
Well, my way is "legal" too, actually. Unfortunately, many municipal governments/government entities pass unlawful ordinances/rules. I'm not real big on teaching to kids to ask permission to do things they actually have a 'right' to do. Such a mindset creates "Good little socialists"

There is a HUGE difference difference between advocating trying to "get away with" breaking the law, and standing openly in defiance of an unconstitutional/oppressive mandate. This countries founding fathers understood this concept perfectly.

Either way. . . . Hope she gets her chickens.

 

[peterlund]

Get a "thumbs up" from your neighbors to bring along... Actually, with the thumbs up I too would forgo the legal mumbo-jumbo stuff.... Sometimes you just have to tell the boys at city hall that enough is enough. Sadly, if you do petition them for approval it would probably take months to argue it all out... and if they deny you you will be on their radar when you get them anyway. Your neighbors would be the source of the resistance and the ones who would notify the authorities. Promise them eggs and your honor not to have a rooster and they will be civil I am sure... (the eggs usually do the trick)

 

[peterlund]

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This is EXACTLY why I wouldn't go thru all the hoops to get official permission... Look at this list!

 

[Woodcutterron]

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This might still be helpful. Local municipal entities are notorious for botching statutory interpretation. My own municipal governemt was a perfect example. A simple phone call explaining just where they were botching it and letting them know in no uncertain terms it wasn't flying with me, cleared it up quickly.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

I strongly recommend doing it legally. ONLY if you have gone that route and been rejected does it seem to fit to publically defy, and then that is not flying under the wire, but being quite public that you ARE going to do this because you believe it to be your right.

The very thorough presentation is good, although it may be overwhelming. I think the first thing you need to do is a bit of research to find out how many people have petitioned, what their petitions said and the specific reasoning that was given for granting or denying the petitions. Since it is the Public Health deaprtment that makes the determination, I would expect that health issues are their major concern. Lifestyle experiences and teaching responsibility to your children are not public health reasons. Avian Influenza Pandemic IS a health issue, so you may need to debunk some notorious myths about keeping chickens. By knowing hte criteria used to deny previous permits, you will know what concerns need to be addressed. Some of the things I would expect you to need to address are disease, cleanliness, odor, pests (everything from rodents to flies to lice/mites), predators. Citing published works such as produced by well known poultry experts (Gail Damerov, for example) or by land grand university poultry departments or by county extension offices will carry more weight than unpublished works that could have been written by anyone. I mean, I could write a nice long document on caring for your pygmy goats in residential neighborhoods. Doesn't mean that I have the knowledge or credentials to give value to anything I say about it (and I do NOT have ANY goat experience whatsoever except for visiting petting zoos and the like

)

If you find any permits that were approved, use their petition as a pattern for your own.

 

[new chick 203]

That looks like a great document to me. I'm a big fan of doing it the legal way. You may have a little extra work, but you are paving the way for others who want chickens. If you do it right you change the image of poultry keepers the minds of the town officials and the community. BRING CHICKEN KEEPING OF THE DARKNESS AND INTO THE LIGHT! IT'S NOTHING TO BE ASHAMED OF!