Carroll Valley chicken ordinance

(10/20) Residents of Carroll Valley attended the October 11 Borough Council meeting to voice their opinions concerning the topic of backyard chickens. The Council was slated to vote on a revision to Ordinance #2 (concerning the keeping of chickens) later during the meeting.

Mr. Sites, a Carroll Valley resident spoke first and stated that he didn’t understand why there was a ban on the keeping of hens in the backyard. He mentioned that he understood why it was desired to ban roosters, because of the noise, but why would it be wrong to have four or five hens to provide a family with eggs.

The Council spoke in reply of Mr. Sites saying that an ordinance was drafted to allow for a small flock of chickens but was voted down twice in the past. This same topic has been discussed in length in the past, where it initially went through the Planning Commission who brought it back to the Council with recommendations. Ultimately, the idea of keeping chickens was voted down both times.

Other residents questioned whether an official census of the public’s opinion was ever taken or if surveys were ever provided. The Council replied by stating that meetings are made public and advertised, but no official census or survey was ever taken.

As the current ordinance stands, residents must be living in an agriculturally zoned area in order to own livestock, which includes chickens. If a resident lives outside the Agricultural District, in a residentially zoned area, and own livestock or poultry, they are susceptible to a penalty.

The topic that was slated for discussion and voting that evening was the revision of that same ordinance, specifically to clarify the wording used in order to allow for more ease of reading. The Board told residents at the meeting that they could get a group of people together to draft a revised ordinance for the Council to vote on. This would be a good way to get the public’s opinion involved.

Council member Tyler Pyles motioned to suspend any further action on the ordinance until the Planning Commission makes a decision, brings it back to the Council and rewrites chapter 27. The motion passed and the Council discussed the possibility of providing a survey for the public, concerning this topic, to gauge the residents’ opinion.