[Adopted 9-17-2019 by L.L. No. 6-2019]
It shall be lawful for any person to keep, permit or allow any
domestic chicken hens in any residential district or neighborhood
business district under the following terms and conditions and, after
having received a license from the Village Clerk to keep said chicken
hens, as prescribed herein under the following terms and conditions:
A.
No more than six chicken hens shall be allowed for each single-family
dwelling.
[Amended 9-6-2022 by L.L. No. 3-2022]
B.
No chicken hens shall be allowed in multifamily complexes, including
duplexes.
C.
No roosters shall be allowed at any time.
D.
Chicken hens are to be restricted to the rear or backyard of any
lot in any residential zoning district or the rear or backyard of
a residential use in any other zoning district.
E.
Chicken hens shall be kept as pets only and for personal use only;
no persons shall sell eggs or meat or engage in chicken breeding or
fertilizer production for commercial purposes.
F.
There shall not be any outdoor slaughtering of chicken hens.
G.
Persons wishing to keep chicken hens within the Village must obtain
a license from the Office of the Village Clerk after payment of an
annual fee of $25 for the first chicken hen and $5 for each additional
chicken hen up to five and after inspection and approval of the coop
and cage that chickens are to be kept in by the Code Enforcement Officer.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
A domesticated female chicken, over a year old.
Any person or persons, firm, association or corporation who
or which at any time owns or has custody or control of or harbors
or is otherwise responsible for any chicken hen which is kept, brought
or comes within the corporate limits of the Village of Phoenix, New
York. If the chicken hen owner is not of legal age, the parent, guardian
or other adult person with whom the minor chicken hen owner is staying
or residing will be held responsible.
An application for a license to have chicken hens on the premises
shall contain the following information:
A.
The name, phone number and property address of the applicant.
B.
The location of the subject property.
C.
The size of the subject property.
D.
The number of chicken hens the applicant seeks to keep on the property.
E.
A description of any coops or cage that will house the chicken hens,
together with a description of any fencing barriers or enclosures
surrounding the curtilage of the property.
F.
A scale drawing showing the precise location of cages, coops, enclosures,
fences, and the manner in which feces and other waste materials will
be removed from the property or be treated such as to not result in
unsanitary conditions or any attraction or rodents and insects.
G.
A signed statement from the property owner, if the applicant is not
the property owner, granting the applicant permission to engage in
the keeping of chicken hens as described in the license application.
H.
The addresses of all properties within a fifty-foot radius of the
subject property.
A.
The coops or cages housing such chicken hens must be situated at
least 12 feet away from any door or window of a dwelling, school,
church or other occupied structure, including the applicant dwelling.
B.
The coops or cages housing such chicken hens may not be located in
front or side yard areas and shall not be located within 40 feet of
a rear or side yard lot line.
C.
Minimum lot size for any person requesting a permit shall be 3/4
of an acre.
A.
The chicken hens shall be kept within both a coop and fenced outdoor
enclosure.
B.
The chicken hens must be kept in the coop and fenced outdoor enclosure
at all times and shall not be allowed to run free in the fenced outdoor
enclosure unless a reasonable individual over the age of 18 years
is directly monitoring said activity and is able to immediately respond
should said chicken hens need to be returned to their individual cages.
C.
The chicken coop shall be a covered, predator-resistant, well-ventilated
structure, providing a minimum of four square feet per chicken hen.
D.
Outdoor enclosures shall be adequately fenced to contain the chicken
hens and to protect the chicken hens from predators.
E.
The coop must be kept in a clean, dry and sanitary condition at all
times.
F.
The outdoor enclosure shall be cleaned on a regular basis to prevent
the accumulation of animal waste.
G.
The total area of all coops and cages on a lot shall not be greater
than 32 square feet for up to five chicken hens and shall not exceed
10 feet in height.
H.
Chicken feed or other food used to feed the chicken hens shall be
stored in a rodent-proof, fastened container, stored within a structure,
which shall only be unfastened for the retrieval of food and immediately
fastened thereafter.
I.
The chicken hens shall be fed only from an approved trough; scattering
of food on the ground is prohibited.
A.
Chicken hens shall only be kept in conditions that limit odors and
noise and the attraction of insects and rodents so as not to cause
a nuisance to occupants or nearby buildings or properties and to comply
with the pickup provisions of both New York State and Oswego County
sanitary codes.
B.
Chicken hens shall not be kept in a matter that is injurious or unhealthy
to any animals otherwise begin kept on the property.
A.
Upon receipt of a chicken application and the requisite fee, the
Village Clerk shall immediately advise the Office of Animal Control
of said application, including the number of chicken hens sought to
be licensed and the location of the proposed coop or cages.
B.
The Village Clerk shall immediately notify those property owners
who own properties within 50 feet of the applicant property and provide
them with an opportunity to provide written comments as to their support
or opposition of the proposed coop.
C.
The Village Board shall also be immediately notified of the chicken
license application.
D.
If the Village Clerk receives no written comments evidencing opposition
to or concern regarding the proposed license within 20 days of receipt
of the application fee, the Village Clerk shall advise the Village
Board of the same.
E.
The Village Board shall thereafter place the application for a license
upon the agenda at the next scheduled Village Board meeting for review
and comment.
F.
The Village Board shall determine, in its discretion and taking into
account the entire record before it, whether or not a license shall
be issued to the applicant; the Village Board shall be empowered to
impose further conditions on the license that it deems to be necessary
to preserve the public safety and welfare.
G.
Upon approval of a majority of the Village Board and upon verification
of compliance with the design and building regulations, the Mayor
shall direct the Village Clerk to issue a license for said operation.
H.
The license issued to the applicant shall include the licensee's
proper name, property address for which the license is valid, the
number of chicken hens allowed at the property address, a unique license
number, the date the license was issued and an expiration date exactly
one year from the date of the issuance and any additional conditions
imposed by the Village Board.
I.
Only one chicken license shall be issued per applicant and per property.
J.
No license shall be eligible to obtain an additional license for
multiple properties, nor shall more than one license be issued to
more than one property address.
A.
Not later than 60 days prior to the renewal date of the prior license,
the applicant shall make an application for renewal of the same.
B.
Upon receipt, the Village Clerk shall immediately transmit said application
to the Village Board, together with any and all memoranda or complaints
concerning the licensed premises as have been received by the Village
since the granting of the prior license.
C.
The Village Board may, in its discretion, choose to not renew any chicken license for any reason as is set forth above under § 72-17.
D.
If a license is renewed, pursuant to the provisions hereof, the applicant
may continue to keep chicken hens pursuant to the terms and conditions
set forth herein and imposed on the initial license.
E.
In the event that a license is not renewed, then the license shall,
within 15 days of the notice of nonrenewal, dismantle and take down
any and all chicken coops or other structures as were erected pursuant
to the granting of the previous license.
Any person violating any of the provisions of this article shall
be guilty of a violation and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punishable
by a maximum fine of $250 or by a term of imprisonment of not more
than 15 days, or both. Each day of continued violation shall constitute
a separate offense.
