A person engaged in the keeping of chickens on his/her property
shall comply with all of the following:
A. Have been issued the residential chicken permit required under this
section.
B. Keep no more than three female chickens.
C. The principal use of the property must remain as a residential dwelling.
D. No person shall keep a rooster(s).
E. The chickens shall at all times be provided a chicken coop and chicken
pen in accordance with this article.
F. A person shall not keep chickens in any location on the property
other than the rear yard. For the purpose of this ordinance, "rear
yard" means that portion of a lot enclosed by the property's rear
lot line and the side lot lines to the points where the side lot lines
intersect with an imaginary line established by the rear of the single-family
structure and extending to the side lot lines.
G. Notwithstanding the applicable residential accessory setbacks, the
chicken coop and chicken pen shall be located no closer than 30 feet
to any residential structure on an adjacent property. (For the purposes
of this section, adjacent property means all parcels of property that
the applicant's property comes into contact with at one or more points,
except for parcels that are legally adjacent to, but are in fact separated
from the applicant's property by a public or private street.)
H. All feed and other items associated with the keeping of chickens
that are likely to attract or to become infested with or infected
by rats, mice, or other rodents shall be protected so as to prevent
rats, mice, or other rodents from gaining access to or coming into
contact with them.
I. If the above requirements or any other requirements of this article
are not complied with, the Code Enforcement Officer may revoke any
permit granted under this section and/or initiate appropriate actions
at law or equity to abate or restrain the violation.
J. A person who has been issued a residential chicken permit shall make
such permit available for examination upon demand by any police officer,
Code Enforcement Officer, or authorized Borough of Shippensburg employee.
K. Permittees and co-permittees shall be jointly and severally liable
for compliance with the provisions of this Code.
If the applicant obtained the residential chicken permit through
misrepresentations, fraud, or forgery, the permit shall automatically
become null and void.
The permitted keeping of chickens shall be conducted in a manner that does not disturb the use or enjoyment of adjacent properties. Odor generated by the chickens shall not be perceptible at the property boundaries, and noise generated by the chickens shall not disturb people of reasonable sensitivity at the property boundaries. A permittee or co-permittee shall not, under any circumstance, keep chickens in a manner which constitutes a public nuisance or results in a violation of Chapter
106 of the Code of the Borough of Shippensburg.
If any applicant, permittee, co-permittee, or landowner adjacent
to a permitted chicken coop or chicken pen is aggrieved by the determination
of the Borough Manager or his/her designee or the Code Enforcement
Officer, such aggrieved person may appeal the determination to the
Shippensburg Borough Council. The appeal shall be in writing and must
be received at the Borough office no later than 20 days from the date
of the determination of which such person(s) are aggrieved. A timely
appeal shall stay any order to remove chickens until the determination
of the appeal, unless the order specifies that it was issued due to
the keeping of chickens causing an immediate public health or safety
hazard. The written appeal must describe in detail the reason for
appeal. The Borough Council may make a determination after considering
the written appeal or may notify the aggrieved person of when the
matter will be considered by Council at a public meeting. Any decision
of Council shall be final and binding.