[Adopted 9-7-2011 by L.L.
No. 6-2011; amended in its entirety 2-15-2017 by L.L. No. 1-2017]
It shall be lawful for any person to keep, permit or allow any
domesticated chicken hens in any residential district under the following
terms and conditions and after having received a permit to keep said
chicken hens from the Building Department as prescribed herein under
the following terms and conditions:
A.
No more than six chicken hens shall be allowed for any single-family
dwelling or multifamily dwelling, with a minimum lot area of 22,500
square feet (150 feet by 150 feet) from rear of house to real property
boundary.
B.
No chicken hens shall be allowed in multifamily complexes, including
duplexes, without the expressed written consent of the owner of the
building and all tenants residing in the building other than the applicant.
C.
No chicken hens shall be allowed without the express written consent
of all residents residing on property adjacent to that of the applicant.
D.
No roosters shall be allowed.
E.
Chicken hens are to be restricted to the rear or backyard of any
lot in a residential zoning district or the rear or backyard of a
residential use in all other zoning districts and must have setbacks
25 feet from the side and 50 feet from the rear of the real property
lines.
F.
Chicken hens shall be kept as pets and for personal use only; no
person shall sell eggs or meat or engage in chicken breeding or fertilizer
production for commercial purposes.
G.
Persons wishing to keep chicken hens within the City of Rensselaer shall apply for a building permit from the City Building Department, and after inspection and approval of the coop and cage that chicken hens are to be kept in by the City Building and Zoning Administrator, pursuant to § 89-20 hereof.
The Building Department will issue a permit; applications will
be available from the Building Department. The application for such
permit shall include the following information:
A.
The name, phone number and property address of the applicant.
B.
The location of the subject property.
C.
The size of the subject property.
D.
The number of chicken hens the applicant seeks to keep on the property.
E.
A description of any coops or cages that will house the chicken hens,
together with a description of any fencing, barriers or enclosures
surrounding the curtilage of the property.
F.
A description of the manner by which feces and other waste materials
will be removed from the property or will be treated so as not to
result in unsanitary conditions or in the attraction of rodents and
insects.
G.
A signed statement from the property owner, if the applicant is not
the property owner, granting the applicant permission to engage in
the keeping of chicken hens as described in the permit application.
H.
A signed statement from any and all tenants of the building that
they consent to the applicant's keeping of chicken hens on the
premises.
I.
A signed statement from any resident residing on a property adjacent
to the applicant's property consenting to the applicant's
keeping of chicken hens on the premises.
J.
The addresses of all properties within a fifty-foot radius of the
subject property.
A.
Setbacks.
(1)
The coops or cages housing such chicken hens must be situated at
least 20 feet from any door or window of a dwelling, school, church
or other occupied structure other than the applicant's dwelling.
(2)
The coops or cages housing such chicken hens may not be located in
front- or side-street yard areas and shall not be located within 25
feet of a side yard lot line nor within 50 feet of a rear yard lot
line. No chicken hens shall be kept in front-yard or side-street-yard
areas.
B.
Enclosures; coops and cages.
(1)
The chicken hens shall be kept within both a coop and a fenced outdoor
enclosure.
(2)
The chicken hens must be kept in the coop and fenced outdoor enclosure
at all times and shall not be allowed to run free in the fenced outdoor
enclosure unless a responsible individual, over 18 years of age, is
directly monitoring said activity and is able to immediately respond
should said chickens need to be returned to their individual cages.
(3)
The chicken coop shall be a covered, predator-resistant, well-ventilated
structure providing a minimum of two square feet per chicken hen.
(4)
The outdoor enclosure shall be adequately fenced to contain the chicken
hens and to protect the chicken hens from predators.
(5)
The coop must be kept in a clean, dry and sanitary condition at all
times.
(6)
The outdoor enclosure shall be cleaned on a regular basis to prevent
the accumulation of animal waste.
(7)
The total area of all coops or cages on a lot shall not be greater
than 32 square feet for up to six chicken hens. Coops and cages, singly
or in combination, shall not exceed seven feet in height.
(8)
The chicken feed or other food used to feed the chicken hens shall
be stored in a rodent- and insect-proof, fastened container stored
within a structure, which shall only be unfastened for the retrieval
of food and immediately refastened thereafter.
(9)
The chicken hens shall be fed only from an approved trough. Scattering
of food on the ground is prohibited.
C.
Sanitation and nuisances.
(1)
Chicken hens shall be kept only in conditions that limit odors and
noise and the attraction of insects and rodents so as not to cause
a nuisance to occupants of nearby buildings or properties and to comply
with applicable provisions of both the New York State and the Rensselaer
County Sanitary Codes.
(2)
Chicken hens shall not be kept in a manner that is injurious or unhealthful
to any animals being kept on the property.
D.
Slaughtering. There shall be no outdoor slaughtering of chicken hens.
A.
Initial review.
(1)
Upon receipt of a chicken permit application, the Building Department
shall immediately notify the Office of Animal Control of said application,
including the number of chicken hens sought to be permitted and the
location of the proposed chicken coop or cages.
(2)
The Building Department shall immediately notify those property owners
who own the properties within 50 feet of the applicant's property
and provide them with an opportunity to provide written comments as
to their support or opposition to the proposed chicken coop.
(3)
The City Clerk and the office of the Mayor shall immediately be notified
of the chicken permit application.
(4)
If the Building Department receives no written comments evidencing
opposition to or concern regarding the proposed chicken coop within
20 days of receipt of the application, it shall issue a permit for
up to six chicken hens to the applicant, which permit shall be nontransferable
and valid for one year from the date of a satisfactory inspection
by the Building Department and shall be subject to the renewal provisions
set forth below.
(5)
The Building Department shall determine, in its discretion, and taking
into account the entire record before it, whether or not a chicken
permit shall be issued to the applicant. The Building Department shall
be empowered to impose further conditions on the permit that it deems
to be necessary to preserve the public health, safety and/or welfare.
(6)
Upon the approval of a majority of the Building Department, the Zoning Board of Appeals shall take action on the permit application in accordance with the City Charter and § 89-20.
(8)
After completion of the inspection by the Building Department and
confirmation that the coop conforms to the specifications provided
in the application approved by the Building Department, the permittee
shall be allowed to keep the number of chicken hens specified in the
permit on the premises.
(9)
A permit issued to an applicant shall include the permittee's
proper name, the property address for which the permit is valid, the
number of chicken hens allowed at the property address, a unique permit
number, the date the permit was issued, an expiration date exactly
one year from the date of issuance and any conditions imposed by the
Building and Zoning Administrator.
(10)
Only one chicken permit shall be issued per applicant and per
property. No permittee shall be eligible to obtain a chicken permit
for multiple properties, nor shall more than one permit be issued
to one property address.
B.
Renewal.
(1)
On the first day of May of every year, the Building Department shall
file with and notify the City Clerk, the office of the Mayor and the
Animal Control Officer of all chicken hen permits issued in the prior
year, including names of the permittees, their property addresses,
the number of chicken hens permitted at said property and the issuance
and expiration dates of said permits.
(2)
On or before June 1 of every year, the Building Department, the office
of the Mayor or any other interested party shall file complaints received
regarding permitted chicken hens.
(3)
Any complaints received, regarding any particular chicken permit
issued shall be considered at a meeting of the Zoning Board of Appeals,
at which the permittee and any other interested party shall have the
right to be heard concerning said permit.
(4)
The Building Department may, in its discretion, not renew any chicken
permit for any reason after the permittee and any other interested
party have been given an opportunity to be heard.
(6)
If, at any time, the Zoning Board of Appeals is made aware of any complaints regarding a properly permitted chicken coop, it may proceed to hear the complaints of any interested party and the defense of the permittee at a meeting of its Zoning Board of Appeals and may revoke the permit issued for any reason pursuant to Subsection B(5) hereof.
(7)
If a permit is renewed pursuant to the provisions hereof, the applicant
may continue to keep chicken hens pursuant to the terms and conditions
set forth herein and imposed in the initial permit.
(8)
Except in the case of a chicken coop that is not permanently affixed to the ground and is therefore mobile, any permittee shall first obtain a building permit in accordance with Chapter 179, Zoning, §§ 179-12 through 179-19, hereof prior to constructing or erecting a chicken coop not inconsistent herewith.
