Town meeting Plymouth MA

[mugsymalone]

FYI.
Tonight, 9/13/16 at 7:00PM there will be a town meeting in Plymouth MA to review a proposed bylaw not only restricting roosters, but also number of chickens and how to manage the chicken manure.
This bylaw affect all of us chicken owners in Plymouth, so please attend and speak up.

 

[karinm072]

How did this meeting go? Could you pass along any info to me on decisions / laws passed and proceedings? I'm in Brockton, MA and a meeting is scheduled for Tuesday at 4 pm in city hall regarding chicken laws & ordinances. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
Thanks, Karin

Here is a link to an article from The Brockton Enterprise from 9/28/16:

http://www.enterprisenews.com/news/...ockton-board-crafting-farm-animal-regulations

 

[mugsymalone]

Hi Karin,
No bylaws were passed to this date. Not dead in the water yet, though.
Original proposal applies to properties of 2 acres or less only.
They wanted to following:
No more then 6 poultry per 1/4 acre, properties under 1/4 acre could have 4 poultry.
No roosters
manure to be kept in watertight/well ventilated concrete bin.

After the first board of selectman meeting, we formed a group to discuss these bylaws.
Got the bylaw proposal changed to 12 poultry per 1/4 acre
no roosters
manure storage was gone

Neither bylaw passed the board of selectman.

Board of health is supposed to meet oct 12th, we are planning to attend this meeting.
Goal is to come up with rules/regulations to address to issues that forced people to suggest a bylaw, and skip the bylaw all together.
As in many towns, it seems that there's very few chicken owners in Plymouth who cause a problem, but we would all be penalized over these few.

So issues to be addressed are
Incessant crowing of roosters, especially at night
Smells from non-kept coops
Rodents/vermin infestations
And penalties that board of health can impose, including removal of poultry/roosters, monetary fines for repeat offenders.

Arguments that were used by chicken owners were:
Sustainable flock, 6 chickens is just not enough
Health benefits of these eggs vs store bought eggs
Poultry is broad based. a bantam chicken vs ducks or geese
Well kept coops don't smell
Water tight/ventilated container increased the smells problem
Well managed roosters/flocks don't crow that much
Most stores don't even sell 6 chicks or less
These chickens and roosters are pets to many
......

Heated arguments on both sides.
I think everyone is in agreement a bylaw isn't necessarily bad. It just needs to be a good one.

Hope this answers your question. Let me know what Brockton is doing.

Sandy

 

[Janice123456]

Hey I am Janice I am from Brockton also I just met Karen and we are going to be at the meeting on Tuesday together our plan is to try to get the Board of Health in Brockton 2 stop trying to pass any of these rules because they are not chicken friendly or owner friendly and that needs to be definitely more education and correct information before any rules are passed. It's too bad there is some poor chicken keeping going on with some people in Brockton that are ruining it for everybody and what they're doing is allowing chickens to run free and not taking care of them probably so people like Karen and I may be penalized and we are good Chicken Keepers

 

[karinm072]

Hi Sandy,
I'm sorry to hear that this is still going on for you and fellow chicken keepers in Plymouth. Could you post or inbox me the time & location of your next meeting on October 12th? I would like to sit in, show support and listen to what is being discussed. I also have a niece in Plymouth who wants to get chickens and would like to pass this on to her as well.

Thanks so much,
Karin

 

[karinm072]

Hi Sandy,
How did your town meeting go on the 12th?