Backyard chicken' draft ordinance makes

'Backyard chicken' draft ordinance makes for decidedly fowl debate in Harris Township

An idea hatched to allow chickens on residential lots has ruffled feathers as township officials, staff and residents continue discussion of a draft ordinance.

Chickens currently are allowed on lots 10 acres or larger.

The draft is based on a resident request and is similar to ordinances adopted by State College in 2008 and Patton Township in 2009.

Those municipalities allow on-site composting and set violation fines of $50 to $600. Residents may keep four hens per single-family home, though in Patton, residents may keep up to eight hens for lots 2 acres or larger in the agricultural and R1 districts.

While Patton allows slaughtering for personal use, the borough prohibits it. The Harris draft also allows it.

Patton Manager Doug Erickson said the township has issued two or three permits since adopting the ordinance and received no complaints. He recalled much discussion both for and against keeping the birds in residential areas.

Borough Manager Tom Fountaine recalled the issue as highly controversial when first considered. However, since adoption, he called it a “nonissue” and said the borough hasn’t had any problems he’s aware of. The borough has issued five permits.

Harris Township’s draft ordinance calls for a smaller number of hens per lot, with one per 3,000 square feet and a maximum of four per lot up to 1 acre. For larger lots, residents could keep up to 10 hens per property that is less than 10 acres.

“Our issue is, in the village district, we have lots that are 3,000 square feet,” said Manager Amy Farkas. “The lots are just really small.”

However, some residents and supervisors called for a higher chicken density during a sometimes heated discussion at the Oct. 10 Board of Supervisors meeting.

A township website discussion page has received about 60 comments, and supervisor Denny Hameister said he doesn’t think the township has ever received more communication on an issue.

Supervisor Nigel Wilson said Planning Commission members, who will discuss the draft ordinance again tonight at 7, should raise the maximum to six or eight chickens per acre.

“Four seems too restrictive,” he said. “I visited a cousin with a real small backyard and he had five chickens. The only reason you knew he had them was you saw them. I think people are being a little scared about this.”

Also at issue was the draft requirement for a chicken coop permit and the prohibition of a movable coop. The “chicken tractors” essentially are coops with wheels, allowing someone to move a coop around the yard for grazing and to allow the spread of manure.

“It’s the standard mode of backyard chicken keeping in many places,” said resident Susan Squier.

Planning Commission member Paul Weener said he keeps chickens and uses a movable coop.

“It works well,” he said. “It’s a very common thing with backyard chickens.”

Zoning Officer Todd Shea said the problem is that such a coop would require a new permit any time it was moved, part of the township’s zoning law for structures.

“I’m not convinced it’s a good thing,” he said, noting that he could inspect a coop, leave the property, then not know if it continued to be compliant.

Regarding the permitting and enforcement, Farkas said she sometimes receives calls about dogs at large, and calls State College police, who provide service to the township.

“I don’t know who would deal with chickens escaping,” she said. “Who am I going to call if I can’t call the township? Will (Shea) be picking up vagrant chickens, like dogs?”

While Farkas said many good people live in the township, her concern is with the small percentage who will ignore the rules.

Already, some residents have concerns with the at-large “village chickens,” a flock of wild birds Farkas said showed up in 2008 and haven’t left, often hanging out by Duffy’s Tavern and sometimes causing a nuisance, digging in gardens and stopping traffic.

“We told people to deal with them however you would deal with any other animal on your property,” she said.

Resident Ken Hull said he has relocated a couple to a friend’s farm.

Township staff discovered residential chickens have become a trend across the country. Some pointed to it as another aspect of environmental consciousness, raising the birds for eggs and using the manure for compost.

“It’s something everybody zoned out of their residential districts years ago, and now sustainability has become an issue where people want to have access to that,” Farkas said. “It’s a very hot topic right now.”