Eliot family says town pressuring them to ditch pets

Four chickens named Popcorn, Eloise, Lady Bird and Ula may have to find a new home, if resident Brian McClellan can't convince the town's Board of Appeals that he has not run afoul of the law.

McClellan said he's hoping the board will be a voice of sanity in what he feels has been a crazy situation that has been both discriminatory and unfair to him and his family.

And it has ended with a recent edict from the town's code enforcement officer that he either dismantle the coop and get rid of the chickens or face fines of up to $100 per day.

McClellan said he would never have purchased the Rhode Island reds, now his children's pets, last summer if he had any idea that code enforcement officer James Marchese would change his mind about allowing him to have them.

The avian drama is playing out as the town works to craft its first-ever chicken ordinance. Although McClellan can't prove his situation was the catalyst, he said he suspects that it might have been.

Marchese, recovering from surgery, was unavailable for comment Monday.

Board of Selectmen Chairman Roland Fernald said Marchese was only doing his job, responding to a complaint about the chickens by McClellan's neighbor, which led to a review of his property.

That leaves McClellan shaking his head: He knows of at least two others in his Bolt Hill Road neighborhood who have chickens and haven't been singled out.

"The town isn't using common sense. If my neighbor is so upset, I'm willing to make changes," he said. "I don't really know what I can do. No one is willing to come to my property, and every time I went to Town Hall, I was told everything was fine."

McClellan's interaction with town officials began last July. The family, including wife Amy and their three children, had recently lost the family dog, and the children asked whether they could have another pet.

They settled on chickens, in part because the couple felt it would teach their children responsibility, as the chickens' care is primarily in the youngsters' hands.

Before he invested in a coop, yard and chickens, McClellan said, he visited Marchese, explaining he wanted to abide by the law and would not purchase chickens if he was not allowed to keep them on his property.

"He said any town ordinance preventing ownership of chickens in the Village District (where we live) is unclear and questionable," said McClellan. "Therefore, he could not prevent us from owning them."

The lack of clarity was linked to two ordinances that have conflicting requirements. One states that accessory structures have to be 10 feet from the property line. Another states that houses for the breeding and care of animals "for sale or lease" must be 100 feet or more from property lines.

"I told him these were pets, and we weren't going to sell them or the eggs from them," McClellan said.

In an August letter, Marchese laid out the two ordinances, stating that, when there is "doubt of intent," the benefit of the doubt goes to the applicant.

McClellan went to Town Hall again after receiving the letter, he said, and again Marchese "told me I could own chickens on my property."

Popcorn and the gang were bought in September, when McClellan received another letter from Marchese, asking him to place the coop 10 feet from the property line, which he did.

McClellan didn't hear from the town until late December, when Marchese wrote that, "upon further review," the McClellans had to get a building permit and apply for site plan review by the Planning Board.

What happened in the ensuing month was a flurry of letters back and forth and several visits to Town Hall — including one to Town Planner Kate Pelletier, who told McClellan he did not have to apply for site plan review, according to McClellan. Pelletier could not be reached for comment.

The ultimate slap for McClellan, however, was a Jan. 12 Board of Selectmen decision approving Marchese's request to order McClellan to remove the coop and get rid of the chickens or face fines of up to $100 a day.

McClellan said he was never notified of the meeting and, therefore, was not given a chance to explain his position.

"I don't understand," he said. "I tried to do everything I was told to do. And to top it off, my neighbors have chickens and the town is not going to tell them to remove them."

Fernald said the case was "a lot of 'he said, he said' with the neighbor, and I'm not going to get into that." He said, when Marchese brought the situation to the board, "we needed to move forward to rectify the situation."

He said the selectmen have faith in Marchese.

"We support his decision, and have asked him to move forward," Fernald said.

He said he knows McClellan has filed an appeal, "and hopefully this can be taken care of so things work out for everyone."