(a) Shelter Permit. A shelter permit is required prior to any property owner in the Village acquiring and housing any chickens within the Village.
(1) Only property owners who own real property in the Country Home District of Walton Hills, Ohio, and who reside in the dwelling improvement of said parcel, may apply for a shelter permit to house chickens on their parcel.
(2) Applications for a shelter permit shall be made at the Village Hall on an approved application form. The application fee shall be $20.
(3) The application shall be reviewed by the Village Zoning Inspector who shall also inspect the site to determine compliance with the Codified Ordinances of the Village, as well as the laws of the State of Ohio.
(4) The Chief Building Official for the Village shall approve the permit as part of the application and site review process.
(5) Application approval and the issuance of a shelter permit by the Village and acceptance by the property owner grants the Village, through their designee, the right to go onto the property to inspect the permit premises at any reasonable time to insure compliance with the Codified Ordinances of the Village and the laws of the State of Ohio.
(6) The shelter permit shall be revoked upon the determination of the Zoning Inspector and/or the Safety Director’s determination that any of the following conditions exist at or on the permit premises:
A. A nuisance exists;
B. Any unsafe, unclean, unhealthy or unsanitary condition exists;
C. Non-compliance with any applicable Codified Ordinance;
D. Non-compliance with any applicable provision of the Ohio Revised Code,
E. Any rooster present on or at the premises;
F. Any breeding operation;
G. Any violation of the Ohio Livestock Standards;
H. The disrepair of any coop, run, or fencing;
I. Any failure to properly maintain and/or remove urine, manure/feces of the chickens;
J. Any contamination of water supply or water runoff from the permit premises;
K. Excessive noise;
L. Excessive odor; and/or
M. Any threat to public health.
(7) The shelter permit is to be renewed annually by the property owner filing a renewal application and paying a renewal fee. The renewal fee shall be $20. The Zoning Inspector shall review the renewal application and inspect the premises in the same manner and upon the same criteria as any new shelter permit application. The inspection of the premises can be waived if the permit premises has been inspected at any time within ninety days of the renewal effective date.
(8) Revocation of a shelter permit or non-renewal requires the immediate removal of the chickens from the premises.
(9) No shelter permit shall be revoked without giving the property owner three days' notice to cure any and all defects or non-compliance. Notice shall be in writing and posted at the property. The three-day notice to cure is waived in matters involving the public health, safety and welfare.
(10) The Village may remove and/or destroy any chickens on the shelter permit premises that:
A. Are not removed by the property owner within seventy-two hours of the revocation of the shelter permit;
B. Are a threat to the public health, safety and welfare;
C. Are a nuisance that remains unabated after three days' notice;
D. Remain on the premises after the posting of a notice to cure and the lapse of three days thereafter with no cure being fully implemented by the property owner;
E. Allow unconfined or free range of chickens on the permitted premises; and
F. Are not in an approved coop and approved fenced-in area in compliance with this section and all applicable sections of the Walton Hills Codified Ordinances.
(b) Chickens. The keeping of chickens, and the erection of coops or other enclosures for the keeping of chickens, shall be governed by the following regulations.
(1) Country Home District. In the Country Home District of the Village of Walton Hills, the following regulations apply:
A. Only hens and does that are table egg breeds are permitted;
B. No more than one chicken per 7,260 square feet of parcel area and up to a maximum of six chickens. For a lot size of one acre or more, this regulation permits a maximum of six hens or does for any size lot. This regulation does not apply pro-rata and does not include leased parcels;
C. No roosters shall be kept in the Village. Any cockerel that crows must be removed from the Village; and
D. The breeding or selling of chickens in the Village is prohibited, and no chickens shall be used for any commercial purposes.
(c) Coops and Runs. All chickens permitted on any premises within the Village shall be provided a coop for shelter and a run, no cage housing for chickens is permitted in the Village. The coop and run shall comply with the following minimum standards:
(1) The coop shall be a permanent structure, not exceeding 150 square feet in size with a painted or stained exterior color approved by the Village Zoning Inspector. The coop shall not exceed fourteen feet in height.
(2) The coop shall be located in the rear yard and shall be a minimum of fifty feet from any side or rear property line, and shall be at least fifty feet from any dwelling or other structure on the shelter permit premises.
(3) The coop shall provide adequate ventilation and light through windows covered in ½" square or less wire mesh. Ventilation windows shall be no less than one square foot for every ten square feet of floor space.
(4) All coops must have proper flooring. Flooring may be wood and attached to the coop walls, and at least one foot off of the ground or the coop floor may be cement and the coop walls fastened thereto.
(5) All coops must have adequate functioning feeders and waterers sufficient to feed and water the permitted chickens.
(6) Each coop shall be equipped as follows:
A. A minimum of one roosting pole per chicken; two inches wide; rounded edges, ten inches of space per chicken side to side; ten inches between poles; thirty inches above the floor; eighteen or more from any wall; and at least twenty-four inches of head room above the perch;
B. Removable droppings tray under each roosting pole;
C. One nesting box for every three laying hens; and
D. No less than ten square feet of floor space for every chicken permitted on the shelter permit.
(7) Each coop shall provide access to a run for the chickens attached to the coop, enclosed by fencing five feet in height and buried at least twelve inches into the ground or pinned down in such a manner that it prevents the rodents and predators from getting in. The run shall provide a minimum of ten square feet per permitted chicken.
(8) The runs shall be a minimum of twenty-five feet from the rear or side property lines.
(d) Poultry Food Storage. All feed shall be stored inside of the coop, stored in metal containers with tightly fitted locking or latching lids, and shall be contained (closed) at all times other than when feed is being extracted.
(e) Manure and Waste Disposal. Waste storage must be at least fifty feet from any side or rear property line or dwelling, and is only permitted in the rear yard of the shelter permit premises, and shall be disposed of in the following manner:
(1) Stored in a watertight container thrown out weekly with the trash;
(2) Composted in a manner causing no noxious odor to adjoining property owners or the general public, in accordance with all health codes and USDA guidelines; and
(3) In a manner that does not attract vermin.
(f) Euthanasia. The euthanization of any sick, lame, or aged chickens shall be conducted as humanely as possible, away from public view, as set forth in Chapter 901 Ohio Livestock Care Standards except that gunshot is not permitted.
(g) Disposal of Dead Chickens. The following are the permitted methods of disposal of dead chickens:
(1) Burial in a hole dug to a depth of no less than four feet; and
(2) Wrapped and sealed in a plastic bag and placed in the owner's trash container for pickup by the Village trash disposal service at the owner/shelter permit holder's address.
(h) All properties in the Village acquiring and housing chickens within the Village shall conform to Chapter 1490 exterior property maintenance and Chapter 1492 unsafe dwellings and structures.
(i) Any person denied a permit or having a permit revoked by the Village, may appeal in writing to the Village of Walton Hills, within thirty days of the denial.
(j) No slaughter of any chicken shall occur outside or in public view. Instead, the slaughter of any chicken shall only occur inside of a structure, away from public view.
(k) Penalties. Any person failing to comply with any provision of this Chapter shall be charged with a violation of a misdemeanor of the third degree for a first offense. The second violation within any two-year time period shall be charged as a misdemeanor of the second degree. A third or more violation within any two-year time period shall be charged as a misdemeanor of the first degree.
(Res. 2016-6. Passed 6-21-16.)