[Added 3-3-2008]
A.
The purpose of this article is to provide standards for the keeping
of fowl and poultry within the identified residential growth areas
of the City of Westbrook. This article is intended to reduce the potential
for conflicts between neighbors that may arise if the keeping of fowl
or poultry creates a nuisance. A nuisance may be created when the
keeping of fowl and poultry is not done in a way that maintains the
health, safety and welfare of the community. This includes, but is
not limited to, noise, odor, unsanitary animal living conditions,
unsanitary waste storage and removal, the attraction of rodents and
parasites/insects, and nonconfined animals leaving the owner's property.
B.
It is the responsibility of all owners of these animals to maintain
conditions that will improve, rather than detract from, the quality
of life in the community's residential neighborhoods.
Structures erected for the housing of fowl and poultry shall
be designed to reduce undue pollution, noise, odor or trespassing
on either public or private property.
A.
Fencing shall be erected to confine animals to an established area
of the property. The fencing shall be of a height that does not allow
the animals to leave the fenced-in area without human assistance.
Fencing shall take into account existing conditions in the neighborhood.
Appropriate types of fencing include chicken wire, stockade, and picket.
The use of chain-link fencing for the enclosure of fowl or poultry
is prohibited in the City's defined residential growth areas.
B.
Vegetative buffering must be used to completely screen the area from
abutting properties when nonsolid fencing is used.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. II)]
Provisions must be made for the storage and removal of fowl
and poultry manure. To avoid the risk of odors, all stored manure
shall be covered by a fully enclosed structure with a roof over the
entire structure. Manure shall be covered and confined in such a manner
as to not allow its spread onto abutting properties. All other manure
not used for fertilizing shall be removed.
Lighting to protect fowl and poultry from predators and intruders
shall be a ninety-degree cutoff luminaire. All lighting must be set
to a motion detector so that the lighting is turned off when no motion
is detected.
In cases where the fowl or poultry is kept on a property within
100 feet of a water body or drainageway, provisions must be made to
control the runoff of pollution to the water body. To accomplish this
goal, all manure must be kept within a roofed enclosure.
A.
The property owner shall take necessary action to reduce the infestation
of insects and parasites. Fowl and poultry found to be infested with
insects and parasites that may result in unhealthy conditions to human
habitation shall be removed by the Animal Control Officer. The Animal
Control Officer may delay the removal of the animals through the establishment
and completion of a plan of action.
B.
The property owner shall take necessary action to prevent the entry
of rodents and/or predators into the fowl or poultry living area.
Fowl and poultry that are not housed in an environment that prevents
the infestation of rodents may be removed by the Animal Control Officer.
It shall be unlawful to keep more than the following number
of fowl or poultry on any parcel within the City, based upon the size
of the parcel on which the animals are situated:
|
Lot Size
(square feet)
|
Number of Poultry/Fowl
|
|---|---|
|
10,000 to 19,999
|
6
|
|
20,000 to 39,999
|
12
|
|
40,999 to 79,999
|
50
|
|
80,000 and greater
|
No limit
|
If any provision, section, subsection, sentence, clause, or
phrase of this article or the application of same to any person or
set of circumstances is for any reason held to be unconstitutional,
void or invalid, the validity of the remaining portions of this article
or their application to other persons or sets of circumstances shall
not be affected thereby, it being the intent of the City Council in
adopting this article that no portion hereof or provision or regulation
contained herein shall become inoperative or fail by reason of any
unconstitutionality, voidness or invalidity of any other portion hereof,
and all provisions of this article are declared to be severable for
the purpose.
