Chicken law revisions focus of hearing

A public hearing on revisions to proposed regulation of chicken ownership in two zoning districts will be Nov. 3 .

Town residents will have the opportunity on Nov. 3 to cluck about any concerns they have with revisions to proposed regulation of chicken ownership in the R10 and R30 zoning districts.

A public hearing is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall on Town Hall Drive.

“There are minor changes,” Supervisor James Quigley said. “It’s (been made through revision) a five-year permit, rather than an annually renewable permit, so it makes it easier on our Building Department.”

Officials have also deleted a section that would have set a fee for the permit and eliminated the sixchicken limit on a parcel.

“We still ban roosters, so that issue is not going away, and the standards of maintenance have been tied to an actual enforceable code of the state of New York,” Quigley said.

Under the regulations, owners would have to keep chickens in a pen or enclosure at all times.

“The pen must be resistant to rodents and to predators and provide chickens with adequate protection from inclement wether,” officials wrote. “The pen or enclosure is to be constructed of materials that are reasonable complementary to existing structures within the viewshed of the pen or enclosure in order to forestall complaints by neighbors or persons within the viewing vicinity.”

Regulations would also limits owners to one pen or enclosure that must be placed in the rear yard and placed at least 20 feet from property lines and 30 feet from a neighboring residence.

Efforts to adopt a law governing ownership of chickens began last year after residents in East Kingston complained about domestic chickens coming on to their property. The board declined to take action after a law that was proposed at the time drew objections from chicken owners, but new complaints in a different neighborhood brought the issue back for a second public hearing.

The second public hearing drew objections even from the Carle Terrace resident who had brought the new complaints. He contended that his son required surgery due to an infection cause by chickens owned by a neighbor, but also said he did not believe that chicken owners should have to pay a permit fee to own their birds.