Urgent help and advice needed (Deltona, FL)

[wayner123]

I have been a long time lurker and I used a lot of the information I have found on here and the resources/links that are provided to get my city's ordinance changed. I have recently been in contact with my local city commissioner and planning and zoning director, and have had a few emails back and forth.

They now want to get together and have a meeting with me and the city manager about this subject. I am really not all that politically active and this will be my first contact with anyone in person about this subject.

How should I prepare? And has anyone else met up with their local officials and how did it go? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

I hate to have to bring this upon all of you with this urgency, but they want to meet as early as next week. Thank you.

 

[scratch'n'peck]

Wow, you got you foot in the door. My place is zoned agricultural , so i don't have personal experience. Here is one link to start:
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-change-chickenraising-regulations.html

 

[scratch'n'peck]

Here are a few more links:
http://backyardfarming.blogspot.com/2010/04/tips-from-successful-chicken-ordinance.html

http://www.chickencoopsource.com/chicken-coops/ordinancesforbackyardchickensarticle.cfm

http://66.147.242.185/~urbanch5/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Ordinance-research-paper.pdf

 

[wayner123]

Thank you for those links. I have read all if not most of them already. I love doing research and it has been great to have these resources available.

My problem now is more in line with meeting someone face to face. I have all of this information, but do I lay it all on them in this first meeting? Or should I simply ask them what their thoughts are and go from there?

 

[rikithemonk]

My suggestion would be to treat it like a Job interview. Dress nice and groom well to break any preconceived notions of what a man who wants chickens in his yard looks like. Don't strictly rely on the Internet or a computer for your presentation. Have a handout in a nice plastic report covers that they can keep. Have more copies than you think you will need. If you are meeting with three people, bring 6 nicely bound reports. Ask their opinions and have some examples of surrounding cities that successfully allow chickens and how they have placed limits on the practice. Suggest reasonable limits and point out that roosters aren't necessary at all. Also include some good pictures of small chicken tractors to show that things will be nice, clean and presentable.


Every reasonable person has three real concerns.

1) Being woken up at 4 am by your neighbors rooster. You may Suggest a ban on roosters.

2) The chicken version of the the crazy cat lady. No one wants a neighbor who has 500 chickens living in his garage.

3) The gateway drug syndrome. Everyone knows that people push for more and more. There is the worry that if they back down and allow chickens, people will start having goats on the front porch.

When the average person thinks of chickens in the city they visualize the ghetto with chickens and goats on the porch. Bring examples that break that notion. Every picture you bring has to represent a clean low profile chicken keeping.

Just my 2 cents

 

[rikithemonk]

Oh, also include a contact person and phone number in the example cities zoning department for them to talk to. Talk to this referance first. Its a good idea to call this person and explain what you intend to do and also ask his thought on chickens. The last thing you need is to give out a phone number only to have your referance say that allowing chickens was the worst mistake in his city has ever made. Its a rule lawyers have. Never ask a question in cort unless you absolutely know what the guy is going to say.

 

[scratch'n'peck]

rikithemonk has great advice. There are wonderful photos of attractive coops in the coop section on BYC that you could include.

I think coming prepared with some info is a good idea. But certainly asking questions and listening is helpful. Because you have done a lot of reading you may be able to anticipate many of their concerns.

 

[wayner123]

Oh, also include a contact person and phone number in the example cities zoning department for them to talk to. Talk to this referance first. Its a good idea to call this person and explain what you intend to do and also ask his thought on chickens. The last thing you need is to give out a phone number only to have your referance say that allowing chickens was the worst mistake in his city has ever made. Its a rule lawyers have. Never ask a question in cort unless you absolutely know what the guy is going to say.

Thank you for all your great advice. The above would be perfect, but sadly there aren't any surrounding cities that have changed their ordinances. The only ones around me that do allow chickens are in rural areas, and that doesn't help city slicker me.

I believe the main issues I will have right now will be, nuisance (noise and odor) and the fact that some of the land on the very outskirts of the city are zoned rural and do allow for chickens. But that is not feasible for me (that land is selling for a min. $500k) to move to simply have 6 or less chickens in my backyard. The city can always argue that if I want chickens I could move to a farm or rural area. I think it's a hard argument to rebut.

I wanted to add I am looking to base the change here on the same restrictions and code found here:http://www.cityoflafayette.com/page.asp?navid=2353&Print=True

I think theirs is a well written code and is exactly what I am looking for.

 

[scratch'n'peck]

Maybe using a town that is a similar size or has regular size lots as an example would be best. Madison, Wisconsin is a modestly sized college town and Naperville, IL is the largest suburb of Chicago https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/naperville-illinois-chicken-ordinance

 

[rikithemonk]

I just read those rules. Wow, those seem to me to be really nit picky and restrictive. Right down to telling you how to store your feed.


ii. Neither the coop nor run, nor any part thereof, shall be located between the rear of the principal structure and the front yard lot line.

I had to reread that four times before I understood what it was saying. No coops on the side of the house.