Phoenix-Area Residents Squawking About Backyard Chicken Coops
November 28th, 2012I can understand not wanting roosters in packed neighborhoods. (I live in a very rural area, and I’ve had about enough of Corneleus, our Barred Rock rooster.) Hens, though, are a different matter. People with backyards should be allowed to keep a few hens for eggs and gardening purposes.
Reading about the struggles that people go through in cities to do things that make sense just reminds me of why we’re living all the way out here. Oh yeah, and we slaughtered another cow in our driveway this morning—another activity that wouldn’t go over well with the HOA. *chortle*
Via: Los Angeles Times:
Proponents call themselves an underground society of backyard chicken owners. Arizona authorities are squawking that they’re just a bunch of code breakers.
In recent months, hundreds of Phoenix-area chicken owners have faced nuisance and zoning violations after neighbors griped about odor and noise – clucking hens and crowing roosters. They say poultry poses a health risk and doesn’t belong near homes, claims that chicken owners vehemently dispute.
The clandestine chicken owners are accused of defying city zoning laws. City of Chandler code-enforcement officers say the poultry owners are violating an ordinance prohibiting chickens in most residential areas.
“I think these chicken owners have been getting away with it for awhile and now people are starting to complain,” Chandler police spokesman Joe Tyler told the Los Angeles Times. “And so the code enforcement folks are going out and telling them, you can’t have chickens.”
Some say the face-off is a result of a national movement toward urban agriculture, where a desire for locally raised, environmentally sustainable foods clashes with traditional ideas of what consists of a suburban neighborhood.
