(A) Permit required for keeping of chickens and other fowl. No person shall anywhere in the city keep, harbor or maintain care, custody or control over any chicken without obtaining a permit issued by the city.
(1) No permit shall be granted to keep any chicken within a dwelling unit or part thereof, nor on any property containing two or more dwelling units.
(2) This section shall not apply to dogs, cats, ferrets or rabbits, nor to veterinarians or licensed pet shops or licensed kennels.
(B) Application for permit. Any person desiring a permit under this section shall make written application to the City Code Enforcement Officer. Approval of application is subject to conditions prescribed by the city in the Appendix. Failure to adhere to conditions in the Appendix is cause for cancellation of the permit and/or may result in an administrative citation.
(C) Duration of permit. All initial permits issued shall expire on December 31 of the following year after its issuance unless sooner revoked. Renewal permits shall expire on December 31 of the second year following its issuance unless sooner revoked. The application fee for such permit shall be set by City Council and may be changed from time to time.
(D) Refusal to grant permit. The city may refuse a permit to keep or maintain chickens hereunder for failure to comply with the provisions of this section, and shall refuse a permit if such chickens should not be kept upon the premises described in the application or the permit. If any such permit is refused, the fee paid with the application shall be retained by the city.
(E) Numbers and types of chickens allowed.
(1) No more than five chickens shall be maintained at any one residence or premises.
(2) Hen chickens may be kept within the city as specified in § 151.02.23, Table 151.02.02.
(3) The keeping of roosters is prohibited. Chickens shall not be raised or kept for fighting.
(F) Impounding of non-domesticated animals, chickens, and other fowl. Any non-domesticated animal, including chickens and other fowl, kept in violation of this section may be impounded by the city, and after being so impounded for five days or more without being reclaimed by the owner, may be destroyed or sold. Any person reclaiming such impounded animal shall pay the costs of impounding and keeping the same.
(G) Public or private nuisance.
(1) No person shall allow any chicken under his or her ownership or control to disturb the peace and quiet of the city or to otherwise become a public or private nuisance so as to annoy, injure or endanger the health, safety, comfort or repose of the public.
(2) Nor shall the owner of chickens maintain them in a manner so as to create a nuisance to owners of property adjacent to or in close proximity with the property on which the chickens are located.
(3) Factors to be considered in deciding whether the keeping of chickens creates a public or private nuisance include, but are not limited to, the following;
(a) The condition of any structure or building wherein any chicken and other fowl is kept.
(b) The proximity of pens, fences and other structures to adjacent property lines.
(c) The general nature and characteristics of the neighborhood.
(d) The number of chickens kept on any one parcel.
(e) The relative size of the parcel on which the chickens are kept.
(f) The type of chickens being kept.
(g) The extent to which neighboring property is protected from the effects of the chickens, e.g., solid fences, landscape screening, buffer areas, and the like.
(h) The presence of objectionable odors and/or noise.
(i) The relative danger the chickens would pose if exposed to the general public.
(H) Pens and yards. All chicken coops and chicken runs wherein chickens are kept or permitted to be shall be maintained in a clean and sanitary condition, devoid of all rodents and vermin, and free from objectionable odors. Such structures shall be maintained in good condition and shall be sufficient in strength and size to allow the particular chickens being kept to move about, but also able to prevent the escape of the chickens by climbing digging, chewing, manipulating of locks, gates or any other means if such restraint is necessary to prevent the creation of a nuisance. Upon complaint of any individual, the city shall inspect any such structure or premises, and issue any such order as may be necessary to carry out the provisions hereof.
(I) Chickens within city limits; confinement. Every person who owns, controls, keeps, maintains or harbors hen chickens must keep them confined on the premises at all times in a chicken coop or chicken run while in the city. Chickens are not allowed to be located in any part of the home, unfenced yard and/or garage.
(J) Chicken coops and chicken runs.
(1) Any chicken coop and run fencing must be consistent with building and zoning codes.
(2) No chicken coop or run shall be constructed on any lot prior to the time of construction of the principal structure.
(3) Chicken coops and runs shall not be in the front or side yard.
(4) Any chicken coop or run shall be set back at least 50 feet from any residential structure on any adjacent lots, and ten feet from the property line.
(5) Any coop or run shall be screened from view with a solid fence or landscaped buffer with a minimum height of four feet.
(6) All chicken coops must have a minimum four square feet per chicken, must not exceed ten square feet per chicken, and must not exceed six feet in total height. Fenced-in chicken runs must not exceed 20 square feet per chicken, and fencing must not exceed six feet in total height. Chicken runs may be enclosed with wood and/or woven wire materials, and may allow chickens to contact the ground. Chicken runs must have a protective overhead netting to keep the chickens separated from other animals.
(7) Chickens must be secured in a chicken coop from sunset to sunrise each day.
(8) Chicken coops must be elevated a minimum of 12 inches and a maximum of 24 inches above grade to ensure circulation beneath the coop.
(9) Chicken grains and feed must be stored in rodent-proof containers inside a structure.
(K) Conditions and inspection. No person who owns, controls, keeps, maintains or harbors hen chickens shall permit the premises where the hen chicken are kept to be or remain in an unhealthy, unsanitary or noxious condition, or to permit the premises to be in such condition that noxious odors are carried to adjacent public or private property. Any chicken coop and chicken run authorized under this section may be inspected at any reasonable time by the City Code Enforcement Officer or other agent of the city.
(L) Enforcement. The City Code Enforcement Officer shall enforce the provisions of this section.
(Ord. 11-06-01, passed 6-16-11; Am. Ord. 20230615-02, passed 6-15-23) Penalty, see § 92.99