My Chickens

Back on January 22nd, the neighbor behind us was on a ladder trimming his trees that are up against our lot-line. He saw me collecting the eggs from the coop, and said to me, "I didn't know you had chickens." The next day, while we were at Parker's birthday party, the following hand-written note was taped to our front window.

That's it. No signature or contact person. No specific reference number of which code or law I was supposedly in violation of. I tried calling the number on the letterhead, but being Saturday, they were closed, and, they give me only one day to find a new home for my girls before reinspection! So, I looked up the zoning laws, city ordinances, and building code for Sierra Vista. It turns out that there are absolutely no laws prohibiting the keeping of poultry in Sierra Vista. And my chickens are well below the noise limit of the "nuisances code." So, I moved the chicken coop to the back side of the house, away from the lot-line, where they can't bother anyone, and where it isn't visible at all unless one of my three bordering neighbors peers over their fence and into my backyard. I went to an activity with some ladies from church, and one of them asked me and our other chicken-keeping friend if we'd had any complaints about our chickens. She had been at the hair dresser, where she heard another lady tell her stylist that she just found out that her neighbor had chickens, and that she was going to call the police, because you shouldn't be allowed to have chickens in the city. Apparently, I'm her neighbor. But if I've had them for 9 months, and she just now found out about them, they can't really be much of a nuisance. 

We didn't hear back from whoever left the note, until yesterday. A man wearing what looked like a police uniform, but had a patch on the arm that said, "Animal Control Police" came to my door. He got a call saying that we had chickens, and came to investigate. He asked if I had chickens. I admitted that we have three. He asked why I didn't get rid of them a month and a half ago when he left me the note. I said there is no law against keeping them. He said there is. I asked him to please show me the law that pertains to poultry within the city limits. He pulled out the building code. He said that there is zoning for "urban ranches" that states that they can keep poultry, and that since I am zoned "single family residential", which doesn't state that, then I can't keep them. I pointed out that it also states that UR can have rabbits, vegetable gardens, flower gardens, and fruit trees. SFR doesn't state any of that, but that doesn't prohibit me from having any of those, either. He asked if I was "playing symantics" with him. I said that I wasn't trying to be beligerent, but when it comes to the law, it's all about "symantics." He said he'd do me a favor, and not cite me, and give me a week to find the chickens a new home. He said that if I didn't like it, then I could appeal to the city council, at their open forum, and that maybe they'd allow me to keep them.

 Today, I went and consulted my lawyer. She agreed with me, and said that if I were actually cited, I would go before the judge, who will actually refer to the law, rather than going before a city council, who will judge according to their opinion on the matter. She also said that just because the law doesn't specifically say that you CAN do something, doesn't automatically mean that you CAN'T. She couldn't find any law prohibiting poultry, only swine. She also told me that she gets a lot of complaints from residents being told (without legal basis) by animal control that they have to get rid of a pet. Animal Control just hopes that they won't stand up for themselves, and will comply. That's it, now I'm really not backing down. If there was indeed a law prohibiting keeping them, I'd find a new home for my girls, and although I'd be sad, I believe in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law. But if there is no such law, I'm not going to get rid of them. So I stopped by the building code office downtown. I asked if there were any laws about keeping certain pets, namely chickens. The secretary said they are prohibited in the city. I asked her to please show me the law that pertains to poultry within the city limits. She got her boss. He tried to tell me the same thing as the animal control guy. I told him about the gardens, trees, and rabbits, etc., and I told him what my lawyer said. I also told him that the animal control guy had mentioned that the complaint they received wasn't about noise, odor, or any kind of nuisance, it was just the fact that I had them at all that the caller wanted to report. He admitted that there are several people in Sierra Vista who keep chickens, and that he has already spoken to the city's attorney about getting the wording of the law changed to include chickens, (An admission that the current law doesn't include them) but that in the mean time, no one would take my chickens away from me.

I love my girls.