Vernon introduces chicken ordinance

VERNON — The highly anticipated chicken ordinance was introduced Monday night at the Vernon Town Council meeting.
Ordinance #18-25 or commonly referred to as the chicken ordinance, will allow residents who meet a specified criteria to own chickens and/or ducks on their property.
Currently, only a property that is farm-assessed may be allowed to own fowl.
Several residents came out in support of the chicken ordinance at Monday night’s meeting, including Brianna Wagner of Barry Lakes, who said, “it’s fantastic, and very therapeutic. There isn’t very many negative things about owning chickens, as long as they're kept clean and healthy.”
The ordinance only allows for hens, no roosters allowed.
Elizabeth Rockwell of Highland lakes also spoke about the benefits of owning chickens, citing how the fowl can help control the tick population.
“I support the ordinance, I think it’s good for public health.”
Residents have been asking for an ordinance to allow fowl for some time. A petition posted on, ipetitions.com received 521 signatures, beating the goal of 500.
Many justifications are given as to why the township residents should be allowed to own fowl on their property: Chickens produce a rich fertilizer. Chickens eat insects, including ticks. Educational opportunities. Fresh eggs are healthier. Chickens eat table scraps, reducing municipal waste.
The ordinance gives very specific guidelines to how many fowl may be owned by a resident based on lot size.
The ordinance states that a resident with less than an acre of property, but at least a 100X200 foot lot may own up to six fowl.
Residents with at least one acre, but less than five, may own up to 15 fowl.
Residents will be required to obtain a zoning permit from the townships zoning officer at a cost of $50.
The zoning officer must inspect all structures related to the fowl (coops) prior to the issuance of a permit.
All structures must be placed in the rear of the property, and adhere to setback requirements.
Several guidelines for dealing with the waste management of the fowl, including the restriction to not allow any runoff from fowl manure to reach neighboring properties, are also included.
Rules for the fowl feed are also included as to help maintain a clean and healthy environment. Any feed must be cleaned up daily, stored in sealed containers, and be protected from rodents and other wildlife.
Much of the credit given for creating the chicken ordinance goes to councilmembers Dan Kadish and John Auberger.
Kadish even listed introducing the chicken ordinance as his number one goal on a list of accomplishments he hoped to complete this year.
The first reading of this ordinance was passed with a unanimous vote, although not easily.
The original version of the ordinance included geese, along with chickens and ducks listed as “fowl.”
Kadish recommended the ordinance be amended to remove geese due to their aggressive nature. He also questioned if the allotment of 15 chickens was too many.
The rest of the council agreed to remove geese from the ordinance, but did not change the number of fowl allowed.
The final reading and public discussion is scheduled for Sept. 10.