The wheels of change are turning!!

[saginawmom]

Hey everyone! I finally got all my "chicks" in a row!

After speaking to several city employees, including the mayor, I have decided to go before the council and present my proposal to change the city ordinance regarding chickens. With the help of one of the members of the organic co-op I belong to, I will be going before city council on September 21, 2010 at 6pm. I would like to have as many supportive bodies there as I can get. During the six or so weeks between now and then I would also like to collect the required 250 qualified signatures (registered voters of Saginaw) needed to change the ordinance. I am only one person trying to make a better life for my family. I have formed then group "Chickens for Saginaw" and have a proposal and facts/myths report that I will also present.

Just so everyone knows, chickens are currently not allowed on any residential lots that have less than 20,000 square feet per animal. That's one-half acre! They consider chickens to be livestock. I could understand the reasoning behind this for a horse or a cow, but a chicken on requires about 4 square feet of living space. And that's much more than the 97 square inches that commercial battery hens get!

I want my daughter to know where her food comes from, her garden and the hens. Living a more sustainable life and leaving less of a carbon footprint are the main reasons I want the ordinance changed.

Chickens for Saginaw proposes the following:
1. Residentially zoned, single family homes within the City of Saginaw shall be permitted to keep 6 (six) laying hens for household egg gathering with no minimum lot size.
2. Roosters are prohibited. Breeding of chickens is prohibited.
3. Chickens and their enclosures must be at least 10 feet from property lines and not visible from the street.
4. Enclosures must be attractive and well‐maintained.
5. Chickens and their enclosures must be kept in a neat, clean and sanitary condition, free from offensive odors, excessive noise, or any other condition that would constitute a nuisance.
6. A yearly permit fee of $50 to offset costs of increased call volume to Animal Control.
7. Animal control has the authority to inspect the property and enclosure at anytime they deem necessary to ensure the ordinance is being followed.



I think there should also be something in there about slaughtering the chickens, while it may not be what I would do, I wanted to get a consensus on how to handle that. Do you think 6 hens too many? Is there something I have not covered?

What do u guys think? any suggestions from the BTDTs (been there,done thats)??

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
In short, I don't like the rules you propose. Here are my suggested alterations:

1. A residentially zoned, single family homes within the City of Saginaw shall be permitted to keep up to 6 (six) mature chickens. There is no minimum lot size. (If there are residentially agricultural zones that already allow chickens in larger flocks, you need to mention that larger properties may continue to ...list current restrictions)

2. All chickens must be maintained in a manner so that they do not become a nuisance based upon existing nuisance ordinances (reference existing nuisance ordinances), including but not limited to noise, odor and health nuisances.

3. Chickens must not run at large (off the property of their owner).

4. strike this entirely, unless the city regulates the appearance of dog houses, playhouses, rabbit hutches, etc. If these are regulated, use the same language. What one person considers attractive and well-maintained is unlikely to meet the standards of everyone. Define "attractive." It is a very general term. Likewise, what is "well-maintained"? Existing ordinances probably already cover these to the extent they need to be covered.

5. Chickens and their enclosures must be kept in a neat, clean and sanitary condition, free from offensive odors, excessive noise, or any other condition that would constitute a nuisance based upon existing nuisance ordinances. (This is pretty much the same as I rephrased for #2)

6. strike entirely; Places that have kept track of nuisance calls relating to legal chickens have shown little to no increase in the number of complaints. Unless you must have a permit to keep other animals and pets, this is a BAD idea.

7. Absolutely NOT. It is one thing for them to investigate a nuisance complaint, blanketly giving away 4th amendment rights is unconscionable.


If you want something passed, you must keep it simple, and show balanced reason. Your set of proposed rules is not balanced.

 

[key west chick]

I would take out the "not visible from street" part. The only place in my back yard that was level enough for my pens are to the right of my house. So when you look at my house, they're back in the right back corner of the yard, clearly visible from the street. No way could I have put them more behind the house, out of view, without a backhoe. Plus, then they would have been seen from the street that runs BEHIND my house.

 

[freelancer79d]

go here: http://www.salemchickens.com/index.html

 

[freelancer79d]

that site is a valuable resource for anyone looking to change their city's regulations about chickens.

 

[freelancer79d]

here is their resource packet: http://www.salemchickens.com/Research_Packet_Jan_2010.pdf

 

[palochknldy]

Keep it as simple as possible. No $$ permits. Why should you have to pay to have chickens when others don't to have dogs. What is neat and attractive to one person is not to another. And like the earlier post, do not designate where the coop should be. We have a chicken tractor and are moving it around the yard all the time. Good luck. Don't overwhelm them with alot of restrictions. Don't forget to mention that chicken poop is GREAT fertilizer!

 

[drumstick diva]

They are always gonna give less than you ask for because they are in Charge and you arent. Ask for allowance of 8-10 hens so you can compromise by accepting 6, and so on. Hope it works for you.

 

[tasymo]

I agree with the other posters- don't make it sound like chickens and their coop and run are something that needs to be hidden or apologized for! What if someone lives on a corner? They wouldn't be allowed to have chickens because their coop would be visible from the street? State that the coop and run should be predator safe and kept clean. Attractive is too relative a term since everyone's idea of attractive is different. Too many regulations make it harder for your local government to enforce the rules. If permits aren't required for dogs and cats, don't require them for chickens. Give yourself more bargaining power by leaving some room for compromise. We all WANT your town to change the rules and allow you to have your hens, so please don't take our remarks as discouragement, but as CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. Good Luck!!

 

[feick1202]

Do you have a update on your cause? New to area and I can't find anything if they are allowed now or not.