St. Petersburg, FL (Pinellas County)

[ShrimpNGrits]

My wife and I live in St. Petersburg, FL (Pinellas County). In Spring 2014, we are going to purchase a chicken coop, run and three chickens. I'm trying to do the right thing and do all of my due diligence beforehand, but I'm baffled by the code language.

Sec. 4-26. - Keeping fowl in the City.

(a) Scope of section. The provisions of this section shall apply to chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese and guinea fowl.

(b) Running at large. Fowl subject to this section running at large within the City are hereby declared to be nuisances.

(c) Manner of keeping. No person shall be allowed to keep any fowl subject to this section within the City unless the fowl are securely fenced and confined to the premises of the owner, and coops and runways are kept clean and free from offensive odors.

(d) Prohibited locations. It shall be unlawful for any person to keep or maintain any fowl subject to this section or other fowl in any residence district in the City within 100 feet of any residence without the consent of the owner or occupant of such residence.

(e) Noisy fowl. Crowing roosters or other noisy fowl are hereby declared to be nuisances and shall not be kept within the City after a complaint has been made to the Chief of Police that the complainant is disturbed thereby and the Chief of Police has notified the owner of the fowl to remove them from the City. Any person keeping or maintaining such fowl after having received notice to remove them shall be deemed guilty of maintaining a nuisance under this subsection.

(Code 1973, § 8-5)

The thing that really gets me is the "within 100 feet of any residence" bit. I would have to get permission from dang near my entire neighborhood. Those of you in Pinellas County know how close our houses are to each other. I would have to get letters from at least eight neighbors, and I only know three of them! I don't want to ask for permission, get push back, setup the coop anyway and then get my chickens taken away.

Any thoughts? Thank you!

 

[thechickengroup]

Hi, we live in Largo and just recently got 3 hens. We found out after the coop was built that we are not in compliance. We don't have the coop 10 feet from the property line. We haven't had an issue as of yet, but if something arises we could move it, if need be. Also, my husband built the coop taller than allowed but that hasn't caused an issue either. We figure if we need to adapt if someone complains, we can. I doubt anyone will, since just about all the neighbors have met the chickens and want eggs. Everyone says, "wow you built a chicken palace."

I know we should have read ALL the requirements beforehand, I don't a have a good reason why we didn't, but we will adapt if need be.

 

[chfite]

If you place the coop behind your house, there would be how many houses located such that the distance from the coop to the actual building within 100 feet? If you were on a 50 foot wide lot, it seems that there would be a maximum of three houses on your side of the street that would be within the 100 foot range. Across the street, one at most.

The ordinance says 100 feet. So measuring from the coop itself to the other houses themselves would be applicable, not to the property line.

If you worked on sustainable living with a garden in your yard and promoted it to the neighbors, you might be able to ease into chickens over time.

Strange laws we have in this country.

Chris

 

[ShrimpNGrits]

Thank you. Within 100 feet of the coup itself would be 7-8 houses, and unfortunately I only know four of those neighbors.

 

[Daven]

My wife and I live in St. Petersburg, FL (Pinellas County). In Spring 2014, we are going to purchase a chicken coop, run and three chickens. I'm trying to do the right thing and do all of my due diligence beforehand, but I'm baffled by the code language.

Sec. 4-26. - Keeping fowl in the City.

(a) Scope of section. The provisions of this section shall apply to chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese and guinea fowl.

(b) Running at large. Fowl subject to this section running at large within the City are hereby declared to be nuisances.

(c) Manner of keeping. No person shall be allowed to keep any fowl subject to this section within the City unless the fowl are securely fenced and confined to the premises of the owner, and coops and runways are kept clean and free from offensive odors.

(d) Prohibited locations. It shall be unlawful for any person to keep or maintain any fowl subject to this section or other fowl in any residence district in the City within 100 feet of any residence without the consent of the owner or occupant of such residence.

(e) Noisy fowl. Crowing roosters or other noisy fowl are hereby declared to be nuisances and shall not be kept within the City after a complaint has been made to the Chief of Police that the complainant is disturbed thereby and the Chief of Police has notified the owner of the fowl to remove them from the City. Any person keeping or maintaining such fowl after having received notice to remove them shall be deemed guilty of maintaining a nuisance under this subsection.

(Code 1973, § 8-5)

The thing that really gets me is the "within 100 feet of any residence" bit. I would have to get permission from dang near my entire neighborhood. Those of you in Pinellas County know how close our houses are to each other. I would have to get letters from at least eight neighbors, and I only know three of them! I don't want to ask for permission, get push back, setup the coop anyway and then get my chickens taken away.

Any thoughts? Thank you!

So my neighbors can have loud dogs and dangerous dogs and not have to ask permission to have or even have any regulations but minimum how is this equal