Board of adjustment would determine on a case by case basis
Young Conner Allender may get to keep her pet chickens at her new home in Jefferson, but there’s a hoop to jump through, and that hoop has a $250 price tag.
The planning and zoning commission met this morning (July 23) to hear the request from Conner’s mother Joyce that she be allowed to keep her three banty hens in town. They’ve recently moved from Greenbrier Township to a small rental house in the 100 block of E. Monroe St. Joyce Allender asked the Jefferson city council in June for permission to keep the small hens with them in town. The current city code explicitly forbids keeping livestock, including chickens, in town. The council referred the request to the planning and zoning commission for consideration.
Allender made a strong case as she spoke to the commission. “The chickens are hers. She’s raised them. She can hold them and talk to them and they talk to us,” Allender said. “It’s more of a relationship, bonding, like you’d see with pets.”
She told of talking with children and adults walking through the poultry barn at the Greene County Fair. “They were amazed that you could even pick up a chicken. They thought they were something wild and scary. Adults coming through were surprised that you can have a relationship that close, that trusting, and being able to handle them,” she said.
Allender described the hutch the hens live in, a bi-level structure made of hardware cloth very firmly attached to a frame on a welded wheel base. The doors latch well enough that crafty raccoons can’t get them open, and there’s a place for padlocks if needed. It’s similar to a rabbit hutch, she said, and added, “Rabbits to me are pretty much the same as poultry, except they don’t talk to you most of the time. They hum, but you use them for the same kind of thing, the pet relationship, unless you’re eating your rabbits, and then they should be livestock. You can talk to chickens and you get eggs out of them, too.”
Commission members understood Conner’s three hens to be pets, but they were reluctant to recommend a change in the current ordinance.
Variances on case by case basis: After discussion, the commission approved a motion recommending to the city council a change in the ordinance that would allow the board of adjustment to consider requests for variances on a case by case basis. The commission is not recommending a change in the definition of “pets” – currently a living dog, cat, and animals in a small tank or cage including but not limited to a rabbit, gerbil, hamster, mouse, parrot, canary, mynah, finch, tropical fish, goldfish, snake, turtle, gecko or iguana – but is suggesting that there be room for the board of adjustment to allow animals like chickens in some situations.
“On a case by case basis the homeowner (resident) can come and make their appeal, and if it makes sense like this one seems to make perfect sense, the board can say ‘yes’ or ‘no’,” commission member Jim Unger said.
The planning and zoning commission’s recommendation will be on the council’s Aug. 12 agenda. If the council approves the amendment to the current ordinance, Allender will be able to seek a variance from the board of adjustment. Information about that process was not provided to Allender during the meeting, but in answer to queries from media afterward.
City zoning officer Tom Heater explained that when an application for a variance is received, all residents within 200 feet of the property are notified and the board of adjustment schedules a meeting. He said that a $250 fee is collected with the application to cover clerical costs, and to act as a deterrent to capricious requests.
Jack Finneseth is chairman of the planning and zoning commission. Other members are Vern Foje, Unger, Nick Richardson, Guy Richardson, Dick Pound and newly appointed Linda Eighmy. Members of the board of adjustment are Bill Kendall, Lee Sloan, Lois Clark, and newly appointed Sheryl McDonald and Kathy Calvert.
