Cock-a-doodle-don’t
More than half of noise complaints in Stratford are about roosters crowing Zoning Commission Chairman Christopher Silhavey said he hasn’t received much feedback on
STRATFORD — The town’s health department has fielded 22 noise complaints in the past three years, and more than half of them have been about one specific issue. Roosters.
The dozen poultry-related complaints the town has received and investigated haven’t been concentrated in any one particular locale — but they have become more frequent recently, according to Environmental Health Supervisor Maureen Whelan.
“Roosters have become more of a source of discomfort for people in the last five years,” Whelan said, guessing that some who have chickens for eggs don’t realize hens will lay them whether a rooster is around or not. “Or they don’t realize that roosters are going to be so noisy.”
The town’s zoning regulations allow for the keeping of chickens (and pigeons) on lots of at least 5,000 square feet, with the proviso that they be “confined in a building” and that “no manure or dust producing fertilizer shall be stored in the open.” the issue.
He recalled looking up the rules
“I understand people’s passion when they call me up and say ‘I’ve just received a letter from you, are you saying I have to get rid of my pet?’ ”
Maureen Whelan, Environmental Health supervisor
when a friend with a neighbor who kept a chicken asked him if it was legal years ago.
“That’s the only time I’ve ever heard it brought up,” he said.
A local noise ordinance on the books since the mid-1980s sets limits as to how loud the animals (or other noises) can be — between residential properties, 45 decibels between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m., and 55 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
Up close, Whelan’s noise meter has measured roosters at up to 95.7 decibels, according to documents released by the town in response to a Freedom of Information request from Hearst Connecticut Media seeking all of the noise complaints the health department received since 2019.
That’s a far cry from eardrumrupturing 150 dBs, but it is as loud as a power lawnmower — another source of multiple early morning noise complaints.
Whelan said that in most cases rooster-related complaints are resolved without the need for noise readings.
“The first step is to send the property owner an advisory just letting them know that Stratford does have a noise ordinance,” she said. “If that does not work and I’m still getting complaints from neighbors, I will go out there with the noise meter and use it to see how many decibels the rooster is.”
Which is often easier said than done.
“It can be kind of tricky because roosters aren’t always crowing,” Whelan said. “Sometimes I’m there for five minutes. Sometimes I’m there for 45 minutes, waiting for the rooster to be known.”
If necessary, the health department can issue an order to cease and desist, with the cases referred to housing court for enforcement — but that doesn’t happen often, she said.
Whelan said the town tries to be sensitive to all those involved — those making complaints and the animals’ owners.
One measure of the emotions at play — not one complainant contacted by Hearst Connecticut Media wanted to speak publicly about the issue, for fear of upsetting neighbors or reopening old wounds.
“They’re not just livestock to people,” Whelan said. “The cases I’ve dealt with, people are passionate about them. They’re considered part of the family, which makes it difficult for them to have to get rid of them. I understand people’s passion when they call me up and say ‘I’ve just received a letter from you, are you saying I have to get rid of my pet?’”
“I try to be sensitive to that, but there’s not many ways you can keep your rooster from making noise,” she said.
It’s not a major issue in town, but Whelan said the town could consider banning roosters outright — like neighboring Bridgeport — which would save the step of having to trot out the noise meter.
“It’s not a huge problem in Stratford,” Whelan said. “It’s a few cases here and there. But if we were to reopen the noise ordinance and revamp everything, that would definitely be one of the things I would change.”
The head of the Town Council’s Ordinance Committee, Laura Dancho, R-10, said the town’s lawyers are looking at revamping the noise ordinance — but likely not as it relates to animals.
“We are planning to look at revisiting noise as it pertains to more activities moving to outdoor facilities due to the current health advisories,” Dancho said in an email Friday. “Noise as it relates to nuisance animals such as roosters are referred to the Health Director in the current ordinance. I don't believe this will be changed should the ordinance be updated in the near future.”
Unless a lot of people start crowing about it.
“That being said, when the noise ordinance is referred back to Town Council and then Ordinance (Committee), it will come before a public hearing as all ordinances do, and residents are welcome and encouraged to speak either for or against any part of it,” Dancho said.