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Cities and towns around the United States started to bring the barnyard into their backyard. But if you want to change your zoning ordinances to allow henkeeping, Lawyers.com videojournalist Greg Presto reports it can be complicated. One of the country's most respected county governments, Arlington, Virginia, now is in a flap over these feathered friends. John Vihstadt is a lawyer and chairman of Arlington's urban agriculture task force, a group appointed by the county board to research and make recommendations about henkeeping to the county government.The first step is in the zoning change process. "Right now, the way the rules are in Arlington County, you really can't have backyard hens unless you have property of an acre or more," says Vihstadt. Tom Carter wants to change that. Carter is a member of the Arlington Egg Project, an organization trying to get hens legalized in Arlington. He believes when you control the diet of the hen you control the quality of the egg. "You can have parrots. You can have 20 parrots in Arlington if you wanted. It's OK in Arlington to have pets of almost any kind, as long as they're not food producing pets," says Carter. Vihstadt points out dogs and cats are part of the fabric of any urban community — but hens are new. Opposition groups, including one called "Backyards, not Barnyards," oppose the measure for human and animal health reasons. "How often do they need to be watered, cleaned? What about lights and warmth in the wintertime? If you can't bring them inside, how do you provide for them outside 24/7? There were also some issues in respect to human health. There's been instances of salmonella outbreaks with mail order hens that people have used," says Vihstadt. Vihstadt and the task force seemed to agree with Carter's group. Its majority report suggests new regulations that would include a setback of only 20 feet from the property line to the chicken coop, buy-in from a majority of adjacent neighbors, a limit of four hens, and no roosters--after all, roosters make noise. "The task force took 'eggstra' special care to come up with what we thought most people could live with," said Vihstadt. The task force report is just an early step in the process of changing zoning rules for henkeeping. Now, the proposals must be: •Reviewed by the county manager •Assessed to determine fees and monitoring rules •Reviewed by the county board •Voted upon by the board ... or not Changing a county's henkeeping zoning laws is not simple.But perseverance pays off. "Most jurisdictions who have legalized hens do not appear to have had a whole lot of problems with them. And so we're cautiously optimistic that we can craft a protocol that will work without breaking too many eggs," says Vihstadt. The recommendation Vihstadt's task force may eventually allow this coop in Arlington to be fully legal. But no matter what the county government decides, expect that someone will have their feathers ruffled.
Neighbors Squawk over Backyard Chickens [Video] - YouTube |
| 18 Likes | 18 Dislikes |
| 7,217 views views | 158 followers |
| News & Politics | Upload TimePublished on 20 Aug 2013 |
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