*The City of San Diego, California - Chicken and Gamebird / Fowl Law*

[TommyVT05]

Kaya,

Please let me know what you need for me to do to help with the "permit". I aggree that even with some places being allowed in San Diego, 50ft. from ALL residental homes is quite a strong restriction since homes now-a-days don't have that big of a backyard and if you have a backyard like that, chances are you are away from the city, know what I mean?

My goal, not sure if its our goal but at least bring it down to 15-20ft. Sounds reasonable?

Keep me posted : )

Thanks

Keep up the hard work!!!

- Tommy

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[kaya]

Hey Tommy and others --
awesome if you want to help !

so- I talked to Bob last week . Apparently county environmental health convinced them that it was a city issue - so they he is inquiring around the various city departments to see if anyone has the expertise and the knowledge to issue chicken permits .. the problem is that it's not clear that anyone does .. basically he said if they couldnt find anyone within the city that could do it then we were ..out of luck on getting the permit.

he said he would call me this week or next with the verdict -

tangent: the permit actually references that the county will issue chicken permits for the city of SD (the county definitely has the expertise, e.g. within the department of animal services , but , because of the current budget issues,"it would be too expensive to contract the county to take this on . )


anyways, my sense is that we might be able to help by finding out how much it has cost other cities to issue chicken permits and what type of expertise is necessary. i know imperial beach JUST took this on so i wonder if we could get those numbers from them. this might be something tommy you could take on ?

also --i think that we need to be able to put up a fight if in case he comes back saying there is no one that can do it . if there is more public pressure to get the city to do it, and we convince them that they might even MAKE MONEY off of it (it's possible, right ??) then .. that could help .
the other thing then might be to just start pressuring the city to change the code so that it states that 3-4 hens are allowed with 15-20 feet of space (and more allowed if you have more space ) . i asked bob about this and he said it would take time and , again, be difficult with the budget crisis . but he said that this would be the next step.

anyways, to build pressure, it'd be good to have a petition or a press release (or .. a website where people could get info and sign an online petition, etc) .. that's other stuff that people could work on .. i think i'll start a blog somewhere and post when i have it set up

 

[kaya]

thanks coppa !
i am wanting to make a website to help put new pressure on the city in case they say they won't issue permits . i'll post it here later so you can be on that one too

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[kaya]

sounds SO REASONABLE.

my partner found this online , see p. 17 for a listing various lot size and chicken # restrictions in cities that do allow chickens -

http://media.timesfreepress.com/docs/2009/01/Ordinance_research_paper.pdf

san diego is really off the chart .. 50 feet is WAY more space that the other cities require , .. but the fact that you can have 25 as long as you have 50 feet of space seems pretty generous compared to other cities .
ideally the # you can have would be more reasonably based on the amount of space , so like , 4-6 with 15-20 feet, etc. but more if you have more space .. !


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[TommyVT05]

Kaya,

E-mail me the link...and banner too if you have it so I can post the link and banner on my webpage to promote this.

This is my city so I want to help the best I can so everyone can get a chance at raising chickens, pheasants and such : )

- Tommy

PS: E-mail me. That would be best. [email protected]

Thanks!!!

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[mrsbrcant]

The problem with keeping chickens in San Diego county is that the laws are inconsistent and so confusing that no one can really figure them out. When you read that all of these cities in San Diego allow chickens, it is not really true. If it says that chickens are allowed in "certain residential areas" this could mean that for most of us chickens are not really allowed. I have been searching the codes for Escondido where I live and it seems that "certain residential areas" may mean you live in an area zoned "residential agriculture" or "residential estate" which means your lot is at least 20,000 sq ft and you are also in what is called an animal overlay zone. My zoning is R-1. I have not found any codes that state that I can't have chickens but here is what I found in the code that seems relevant to keeping poultry in Escondido.

Animals and/or household pets may be maintained on the premises as pets for the personal use of the occupants of each dwelling unit in a residential zone in accordance with the following:
(a) Tropical fish, excluding caribe and turtles;
(b) Small birds such as canaries, parrots, parakeets, love birds, etc., may be kept in accordance with the following schedule:

R-A, R-E zones:
Up to twelve (12)
total
R-1 zones:
Up to six (6) total
R-T, R-2, R-3 and R-4 zones:
Up to three (3) total

(f) Other similar animals which in the opinion of the planning commission are not more obnoxious, detrimental or dangerous to the public and neighboring properties than the animals enumerated in this section;

So if chickens are small birds, I can keep up to 6 or my chickens might be allowed under rule (f) if I make sure they are not obnoxious or dangerous.

My daughter's 4-H poultry leader also lives in Escondido, (R-1 zoning), her next door neighbor turned her in and she was forced to get rid of chickens.

So it seems that I am probably only allowed to keep chickens as long as my neighbors don't complain.

We have a rhode island red rooster, frizzle bantam rooster, a pair of old english game bantams and 10 six week old bantam chicks (9 girls and 1 boy)

 

[TommyVT05]

WOW!

Thanks for the input. That makes more sence. But yes, as a word of advise is that, wheater your area allows chickens or not, as long as you make friends with your neighbors and let them know beforehand what you are gonna get into, that is always best. At least they will be prepared for it rather than awakend in the morning by crows and yabbering. Haha.

The nicest and perhaps the best is to ask fellow neighbors. As long as they are good with what you are doing and everything is kept clean and healthy, why would it be a problem?

The animal control won't come to check every residental home to see if they follow the local ordinances or not.

One note though, how could you get 9 chicks to be hens and just 1 rooster? That has got to be the best thing for you then huh? No noise

- Tommy

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[kaya]

I'm running out of the house now, but here is the most recent news from the city.
Sounds to me like now is the time to go to the news and make a stink to the city.. i.e. organize .. !

The city normally contracts things like this out to the county - so it's a matter of $$$$ .. maybe an economic analysis would be good (ie. comparing cost of permits with the potential costs to the city (e.g. start up costs and maintaining the contract with the county)...

OR - switch to legalizing 3-5 / small lots, like IB did !
that won't cost the city anything !

email me for more info ,as per usual ..


Hi Kaya:

I'm sorry it took longer than I wanted to respond to you, but I needed to review the relevant sections of the Municipal Code and discuss the case with the Director of DSD. Unfortunately I do not have good news. The special permits listed under San Diego Municipal Code Section 42.0713 require findings to be made by the Director of Public Health. Because there is no one within the City structure responsible for that function, there is no one able to make the required findings to grant or deny the permit. Even if we wanted to process such a permit within the City, there is no one within the Development Services Department that either has the authority by code or the requisite expertise to rule on such an application. Unfortunately, because the County has also stated that they have no one to issue the permit, we cannot offer you the opportunity to apply and must rely on the regulations as stated, that no chickens may be located within fifty (50) feet of a residential dwelling.

I appreciate the materials you sent regarding other jurisdiction's treatment of the issue. We will incorporate that information into our study related to an ordinance revision, however, there is no present timetable for such a revision. Pursuant to our earlier discussion, I understand that the chickens have been removed from the premises. Therefore, NCC will close its case and take no further enforcement action. Please call me if you have additional questions. Thank you for your patience and cooperation.

Robert A. Vacchi, Deputy Director
Neighborhood Code Compliance Division
Development Services Department
City of San Diego
1200 Third Ave. 8th Floor, MS51N
San Diego, CA 92101
[email protected]
(619) 236-5502

 

[TommyVT05]

Kaya,

Thanks for the update. I have asked a few others myself and in this economy, its hard to process these "law changes" since everytime that happens, it requires manpower and meetings in which we, in San Diego, don't have the resource yet, at least not a free service for now...

Hummm...

- Tommy

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[jackaroo]

I just happened across this forum, as I am interested in raising fowl as pets. I read the U-T article a few months ago and got bummed out about the 50 ft ordinance. I live in a townhome with a 15x15 backyard. So, I started thinking is it possible to raise other birds besides chickens. Does anyone know the laws on quail? I believe they are considered game birds, but I'm not sure how that fits into the city ordinances. I live in San Diego city in the golden triangle area. Thanks!