New rules approved for chicken ownership

Chickens and their owners now have new rules to live by in certain subdivisions in Perry Township.

Township trustees on Sept. 25 unanimously approved zoning amendments to regulate keeping chickens in recorded subdivisions that have at least 15 lots, with each lot required to be 1 acre or less in size.

The board rendered its decision at the fourth government meeting held in the township since July during which proposed chicken-ownership rules were either discussed and/or voted upon.

That process kicked off on July 25 when the township Zoning Commission sponsored a public hearing on proposed zoning amendments, which were drafted in response to complaints that trustees had been receiving for the past year or so. Trustees had been contacted about some residents of subdivisions who owned chickens and allowed them to roam uninvited into neighbors’ yards.

After receiving public input, the commission met again on Aug. 15, and voted unanimously to send a list of revised zoning text amendments to trustees for further consideration.

Trustee Robert Dawson, during the Sept. 25 meeting, saluted the Zoning Commission, saying it did a good job of considering all viewpoints and revising the amendments in a thoughtful manner.

“I don’t think they stretched it any further

than it needed to be,” Dawson said.

At the public hearing on July 25, about 10 people spoke, and most of them expressed opposition to various parts of the proposal. Some of the most unpopular sections in the original zoning amendments dealt with limiting the number of chickens allowed on each property to 12, and prohibiting the ownership of roosters.

The ban on owning roosters was opposed by several people who noted how this rule would affect children in 4-H who have roosters as part of their chicken projects.

But the rooster prohibition was dropped in the revised amendments that the zoning panel sent to the trustee board.

Trustees were sensitive to how the chicken-ownership regulations would affect 4-H participants, said board Chairman Rick Amos.

“To think that we would be in any way not concerned about the effect on 4-H is kind of crazy because we certainly are concerned,” he said.

Another regulation that didn’t appear in the final list of zoning amendments was limiting the number of roosters allowed on each property to 12.

That section was revised

to permit owning one chicken for every 4 square feet in a pen or fenced-in area on the affected lots. Fences must be at least 6 feet high and pens must be enclosed.

Trustees held a required public hearing of their own on the zoning amendments on Sept. 11, but no audience members in attendance spoke about the suggested rules.

The zoning amendments approved by trustees on Sept. 25 also contain two regulations from the original proposal:

• No agricultural use, structure or building shall be permitted in front or

side yards, or any closer to a road right-of-way than the rear line of the main building of a lot.

• The pen area for the chickens shall be regularly cleaned and maintained so as to control odors and minimize health hazards.

Dawson emphasized that the township initially began looking at chicken-ownership regulations in response to complaints from residents.

“As our history shows, we don’t go around looking for problems and changes, and this was a legitimate concern that some people in subdivisions brought to us,” he said.

“To think that we would be in any way not concerned about the effect on 4-H is kind of crazy because we certainly are concerned.”