GROUP THREATENS CHICKEN LAWSUIT
Another Catoosa commission meeting sees full house of chicken supporters; 24 people stand up to speak
A Catoosa County group petitioning for backyard chickens has warned officials it may sue the county.
Atlanta attorney Christine Lawson, who supports the group and lives in Catoosa, put commissioners on notice during their April 4 meeting that a lawsuit may be forthcoming.
Lawson, a litigation and regulatory compliance partner at an international law firm in Atlanta, presented commissioners with the draft of an “ante litem,” which generally puts a government entity on notice that it may be sued.
“This is to let you know our intention so you’re not blindsided,” said Lawson, who has spoken several times at commission meetings in support of the group. Lawson recently moved to Catoosa County, where she has owned property for 10 years.
The debate over whether backyard chickens are allowed in residential areas has been ongoing nearly a year, since at least May 2022, after a county resident was cited for having a half-dozen chickens in her yard. The debate, among other topics has, centered around: how to define chickens, who can have chickens, and how many chickens a resident can have. Since then, hundreds have turned out for commission meetings to address the issue.
The April 4 commissioners’ meeting featured another full room of chicken supporters and 24 people speaking during public presentations.
The county’s Board of Commissioners has been telling citizens that chickens are prohibited in R-1 (residential) zones and hundreds of citizens have been countering with “show the proof.”
Citizens have turned out at commission and zoning board meetings in droves, making their cases for both the legality of chickens in R-1
and what they consider their right to have chickens.
Until last month, commissioners told citizens the issue was still being studied. A few weeks ago, commission chairman Larry Black provided a memorandum that said commissioners had settled on section 1.08.02 as the part of the county’s unified development code (UDC) that supported the board’s claim.
Citizens say the referenced code applies to commercial chicken production, that, among other things, the 500- and 700-foot setbacks stated indicate so. The board says it refers to all chickens.
The announcement elicited emotions ranging from disbelief to anger to a little mockery, all of which came to light at the April 4 commission meeting.
Citizen Adrianne Kittle opened the public appearances segment of the April 4 meeting with a quote from a poem by Sir Walter Scott: “Oh, what a tangled web we weave ... when first we practice to deceive.”
“Lie upon lie,” Kittle said. “Lies upon more lies. That is all we have heard from this board regarding chickens in Catoosa County after a year’s time.” She then went on to itemize what she considers lies and ended by saying, “The one good thing that has come out of this government-perpetuated issue is that it has exposed even more deep corruption such as the illegal rezoning of A-1 property to RA and R-1 for property tax gain without the property owners’ permission.”
Citizens invoked the Bible, history, U.S Constitution, Declaration of Independence, parody (in song form), satire, scolding, pleading, demanding, and even one loud whistle intended to grab the attention of the lawyers present, to emphasize their message.
And they invoked the law, with the “ante litem” draft from attorney Lawson.
Lawson explained to commission chairman Black, upon his inquiry, that what she was presenting was only a draft to let the board know that the chicken supporters intended to serve an ante litem notice if necessary.
The notice was too long for Lawson to read in her allotted five minutes, so other citizens took turns reading parts aloud, until the entire document had been presented.
The document outlined the many alleged offenses the commission is being accused of, from improperly advertising meetings to conflicting interpretations of county code to apparent intent to deceive.
“This chicken war has been going on for a year now. A year. What have you done? Nothing. You kick the can down the road. If you want to keep pursuing the wrong paths, we will have no choice but to hire a lawyer.”
Tonya Rogers, Catoosa County resident
Citizen Tonya Rogers expressed her frustration and reiterated the possibility of a lawsuit. “This chicken war has been going on for a year now. A year. What have you done? Nothing. You kick the can down the road. If you want to keep pursuing the wrong paths, we will have no choice but to hire a lawyer.”
Rogers went on to outline how the cost could be divided and made affordable to the chicken supporters.
Citizen Rob Nolen expressed astonishment that the issue was still not resolved. “Not since General Sherman’s march to the sea has the state of Georgia seen the level of determination, perseverance and scorched earth as this board has poured into regulating backyard chickens. After months of being asked for clarification, the board has now provided multiple excuses and rewritten proposals to cover what were clearly just mistakes in code enforcement.”
The solution is simple, said Nolen: drop this effort to cover up the mistakes, apologize and move on.
Black told citizens earlier in the meeting
that public appearances was not a time for commissioners to answer questions or respond. During commissioner comments at the end of the meeting, only Commission
er Chuck Harris (Dist. 2) responded — he offered to talk to a few people afterward but said that with a possible lawsuit coming up he didn’t know what he should say during a meeting.
Black said in an April 6 telephone conversation that due to the potential litigation he could not speak about the chicken issue. But, he pointed out, an April 18 meeting will be held, with a public hearing in advance, during which five people will be permitted to speak.
Commissioners say they plan to present a proposed ordinance at the public hearing, stating that chicken/poultry houses must be located at least 25 feet from the owner’s property lines (vs. 500 feet in the current code) and 50 feet from adjacent residential or business buildings (vs. 700 feet in the current code).
The commission’s regular meeting, said Black, will be held after the public hearing and will include the usual public appearances opportunity.