South Whitehall OKs residential chicken-raising in limited areas

There were no ruffled feathers at the South Whitehall Township commissioners meeting Wednesday as the board approved a measure allowing residents in certain areas to raise chickens.

The board met and unanimously approved an amendment to the zoning ordinance to allow property owners to house up to four hens as pets. No one in the audience objected.

Commissioners considered the request after 8-year-old township resident Carisa Fogt and her grandfather appeared before the board in September to ask commissioners to revise the ordinance to allow her keep a couple of hens. The prior zoning ordinance required 5 acres for even one chicken, making the Fogts' half-acre lot on Scherer Road ineligible.

The ordinance allows hens, but not roosters, as they make noisy calls and can be disruptive.

The hens would be permitted only on properties containing single-family detached homes in the rrural holding or rural esidential and agricultural zoning districts.

When outdoors, the chickens would be required to be contained in a coop, penned area or run. The pen is not permitted in the front yard and must be positioned at least 10 feet from rear and side yard property lines, as well as 100 feet from a dwelling on another property.

The township planning commission pecked away at the ordinance and recommended the amendment be adopted.

Chickens have become popular in suburban and even urban areas in recent years among owners who delight in caring for the animals, obtaining their own organic eggs or raising them as a family project, sometimes through organizations such as 4-H.

Commissioner Thomas Johns asked if the ordinance would apply to homing pigeons, because some residents keep them as a hobby. Assistant Community Development Director Gerald Harbison said that would be up to the zoning officer's interpretation.

"The ordinance is set up to keep adding, if that would be the case," Harbison said.

The ordinance will take effect in five days.

In other matters, commissioners voted to donate a used police vehicle to the Lehigh County Municipal Emergency Response Team. District Attorney Jim Martin submitted a letter to the board offering to buy the 2003 Ford CV sedan for $500.

Commissioner Dale Daubert asked if the township is truly in need of $500 or if the car could be donated. The township would typically send a used police car to auction, where it could garner $750, Township Manager Jon Hammer said.

"If the district attorney feels this will help him with his duties to the county as well as South Whitehall Township, I say we sign the title over to him at no charge," Daubert said.

The remaining commissioners agreed and voted unanimously to make the donation.