A hen living in Rome. Nov. 23, 2012. (AJ Pierce/RN-T)
“I don’t want my children out playing in the yard, knowing people down the street have chickens attracting wildlife,” said member Elaina Beeman, who moved that fowl be entirely banned.
Joining her in the 5 to 5 vote were members Frank Brown, Joel Holcombe, Terry Jones and Ronnie Kilgo. Members who didn’t want to go that far were Logan Boss, Charles Jackson, Nathan Roberts, Christian Terry and Craig McDaniel.
“If you don’t know your neighbor has them, I don’t know how much we should interfere,” Roberts said.
Currently, the ordinance allows residents to seek a special use permit if they want to have livestock in the city. Chickens are defined as livestock in the zoning code.
The Rome City Commission had asked the board of citizen-appointees for a recommendation on if a change is needed to accommodate what appears to be a growing trend.
Roberts argued for retaining the permit requirement and adding a host of conditions — such as large lots, screened yards, concrete flooring for the coops and at least 30 feet between a pen and a property line.
Brown said the vagueness of the existing ordinance is probably better protection than lengthy regulations.
“I’m concerned that we’d paint ourselves into a corner, because we may get technical approvals that are not appropriate for a neighborhood,” he said. “Each application should be left up to the judgement of the (City) Commission.”
The issue now moves to the Rome City Commission, which is expected to put the question to rest at its Jan. 14 meeting. The board has twice rejected proposals aimed at regulating a practice that exists without sanction in the urban area.
Chris Lewis — who applied for a special use permit after his Hycliff Road neighbors objected to the hens he’s had for years — was the sole supporter to speak at Thursday’s public hearing.
Ten residents, mostly from his Fair Oaks subdivision neighborhood, attended to voice opposition. Ronald Lynch said his Cleveland Avenue home is beset by loose chickens, and entrails from slaughtered livestock have been dumped on his property.
In other actions, Planning Commission Chairman Ronnie Kilgo appointed Jackson, Jones and Brown to a study committee on micro-distilleries.
The city and county recently approved rules that let farmers and others distill ethanol for fuel, but it does not apply to consumption-grade alcohol. A Cave Spring resident said there are already four craft distilleries in Georgia that double as tourist attractions.
Federal and state licenses also would be required.
Once again I will say, If you give an inch, they will take a mile. Chickens will be running rampant in West Rome. If you want livestock move to the country where most folks interested in that sort of thing go. Chickens today, goats tomorrow!
Let's see.. cities that allow urban chickens... ATLANTA, NYC, LA, Denver, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Portland, OR, Ann Arbor, Michigan, South Portland, Maine, Sioux Falls, Fort Collins, Colo., Laramie, Wyo, Missoula, Mont., Orlando, FL, Just to name a few.
Is the city prepared to adjust my property taxes to fit in with areas in the county where livestock are permitted? Further, this may decrease my property values or keep me from selling my home if my neighbor suddenly has pet chickens. Is the city prepared to compensate me for this zone change from golf course community living to farm zoning? I believe that if the city approves this measure they must be prepared to deal with a whole new set of issues. If you want a farm, or livestock, move to the county in a properly zoned area for them. This issue is just a small example of how our modern liberal Americans want to impose the ideas of the minority on everyone else. Have your chickens, but pay me for what I have paid the city for the zone I live in.
To somewhat agree with you, from what I can tell, I see a subdivision with an HOA as a completely separate beast. If you choose to move into such a subdivision, then, obviously, no chickens if they are restricted by the HOA. But simply living within the Rome City limits should not bar a family from having a couple of egg-laying chickens in a clean coop in their own backyard.
I know all about Pintos, my mother drove one. I do not need that to help me understand anything more clearly-I have full understanding of this article and the topic in general. You have a different opinion than I do, no more, no less.
If you have neighborhood covenants, you must still abide by those regardless of what the city says is allowed. The city says that you can have chain link fences, but if your neighborhood covenant says you can only have white picket fences, then you still have to just have the picket fences, not the chain link.
Chickens do not decrease property values, particularly if it is just five of them in a coop behind your neighbor's home. They are unnoticed. Your neighbor may have large, loud dogs, and perhaps nobody will want to buy your house because they don't like the noise or fear the dogs. Should we allow the gov't to prohibit dogs because they might lower property values??
Liberals want the gov't to control the details of our personal lives. This is a property rights issue. I paid for my house, so I should be allowed to do what I wish in my own backyard as long as it isn't a nuisance or harming anyone else. The garbage truck, playing children, and barking dogs are all far louder than my four hens. Nobody can smell them from the street or the neighbors' yards. They aren't even noticed unless you are told about them.
An excellent point was made by one of the planning commissioners yesterday: Irresponsible citizens are going to continue being irresponsible regardless of what the code says, and they should be treated accordingly. Citizens who go to the trouble to apply for a permit and make the necessary provisions to ensure their hens never bother anybody shouldn't have their private property rights infringed because of a fear that people have of those who are irresponsible.
The article above states it, but it could be clearer: The motion made by Ms. Beaman was to totally delete the special use permit provision from the ULDC as related to chickens. In other words, the issue could never be brought up again for an individual seeking a due process to obtain a zoning variance. Regardless how my individual case goes, it is deeply disturbing that the vote was so close to essentially strip away any citizen's opportunity to appeal a code in their individual case.
If chickens are running rampant in West Rome, that is an indicator that we should have rules about them. Ignoring the issue because it would be hard to enforce isn't going to solve anything... much in the same way that dogs running around loose are a problem that can't be enforced since they aren't required to be licensed here.
I would suggest that brings us to an interesting point with regard to animal ownership, that is how do chickens compare to say dogs?
Is it possible that there are people in Rome who are frustrated by dog owners? How do your mother's neighbors feel about her small dogs? Do they bark? They could be a nuisance.
More importantly, what about all the dogs that owners do not keep in fences, but are allowed to chase cars and people with no regard to the dog's or person's safety??
Here's an interesting fact, annually there are over 1000 U.S. citizens who require medical treatment from dog bites...........per day. And here is the source of that statistic: Emergency Department Visits and Inpatient Stays Involving Dog Bites, 2008, by Laurel Holmquist, M.A. and Anne Elixhauser, Ph.D., Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD., November 2010.
Now, I suggest doing a google search for "people injured by chickens". I did not see anything in the top 10 results about people actually being injured. The results I saw all dealt with how to treat injured chickens! Why, because it's a CHICKEN! Not a pit bull or rottweiler!! Oh chicke.. don't peck me chicken!!
However, I do think that like dog ownership, there should be some rules in Rome for chicken ownership. Oh.. wait a minute.. I think there are rules. And hey you need a permit. Well, there we go. All should be done. Now how about our government quite wasting time and money on this and get to work!
Surely in this land of Republican dominance we can agree upon Property Rights and less government regulation!