Updates on the last pages: Neighbor is threatening me and my chickens

[Smileybans]

So it isn’t the county. It’s the town. I guess the ZBA chair told my husband it was the county and they’re meeting to see if we can keep them within 500ft of the road. These morons kept citing this. First it was a NYS law and now a county law. It’s actually a town law. And it’s only for commercial kennels. Not hobby ones. Hobby kennels can be within 200 feet from the road. Minimum. AND I don’t live in the town so their laws don’t matter. I had at one point called the town supervisor and he even told me he couldn’t do anything because I live in the village. I don’t know what these people are doing but I think they’re just trying to scare me into getting rid of my chickens

From the town zoning laws. The law that the ordinance officer and the ZBA chair keep trying to scare me with. I’m not commercial anyway, according to NYS, because I don’t have over 1000 chickens.

 

[Isadora]

So it isn’t the county. It’s the town. I guess the ZBA chair told my husband it was the county and they’re meeting to see if we can keep them within 500ft of the road. These morons kept citing this. First it was a NYS law and now a county law. It’s actually a town law. And it’s only for commercial kennels. Not hobby ones. Hobby kennels can be within 200 feet from the road. Minimum. AND I don’t live in the town so their laws don’t matter. I had at one point called the town supervisor and he even told me he couldn’t do anything because I live in the village. I don’t know what these people are doing but I think they’re just trying to scare me into getting rid of my chickens

From the town zoning laws. The law that the ordinance officer and the ZBA chair keep trying to scare me with. I’m not commercial anyway, according to NYS, because I don’t have over 1000 chickens. View attachment 2868698

What bullies.

 

[NatJ]

...it’s only for commercial kennels. Not hobby ones.... I don’t know what these people are doing but I think they’re just trying to scare me into getting rid of my chickens

Um, did I miss something?

Kennels are usually for DOGS. I thought you were arguing about CHICKENS.

Do they have a definition of "kennel" that they are working with?

 

[Smileybans]

Um, did I miss something?

Kennels are usually for DOGS. I thought you were arguing about CHICKENS.

Do they have a definition of "kennel" that they are working with?

Yeah. In the towns zoning laws they included coops as kennels. Anything that houses animals around here is considered a kennel.

Edited to add: I went back and looked at the towns zoning laws again. It is only talking about dogs. I think I thought it was talking about chickens because the village clerk had said in the village laws that kennels included coops and dog enclosures. But either way it pertain to me and that’s the only place it mentions being 500ft from anything in the town zoning laws. That I could find anyway.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Hm. If it doesn't say "chickens" in writing in the ordinance, I don't think they have a leg to stand on. Even if someone verbally says that "kennel" means coop and includes chickens, no court in the land is going to uphold that. Look up a dictionary definition of kennel and see if it includes chickens. Or horses or elephants. Bet it doesn't. Case closed. They are probably going to have to rewrite their ordinance, which still won't then affect you because you will be grandfathered in, and you would have a nice case for harassment if they tried to bother you after that. But I'm not a lawyer, I'm just conjecturing here.

 

[Aunt Angus]

If it doesn't say "chickens" in writing in the ordinance, I don't think they have a leg to stand on.

That was my thought, too. If there isn't any language about chickens/coops on any other part of the ordinances, then there is no chicken ordinance, no limits, no designated distances between coops and dwellings.

Gosh, I hope this clears up soon. I hate that you have to go through this, @Smileybans

 

[Iluveggers]

Like I said, if they call the sheriff to have the chickens removed, there’s nothing in the verbiage that seems like they would enforce it. Just a scare tactic.

 

[allenw]

Surely you can get a copy of the ordinances and a map of the boundaries of everyone involved and figure out who actually has jurisdiction.

 

[Smileybans]

So I found the actual meeting these morons are talking about. And I’m pretty sure it’s for the villages and towns to plan things. Not individual people. But I could be wrong. We’re still going to go to this meeting and ask them what we should do.
https://www4.schohariecounty-ny.gov/departments/comdev/zoning/commission/

 

[Smileybans]

Surely you can get a copy of the ordinances and a map of the boundaries of everyone involved and figure out who actually has jurisdiction.

I actually talked to the town supervisor and he told me the town can’t get involved and make decisions. The town and village have different laws. The only one that can get involved is the judge because he presides over both the village and town. I want a copy of this 500ft thing they keep citing. The county doesn’t have laws. They leave that up to the towns and villages. The only one that has a 500ft anything is the town. And I don’t live there.