Backyard hens clear a first commission vote 3-1, with flock limits from 4 to 20 set by lot size

Winter Springs moved a step closer to letting homeowners keep chickens on Monday, when the City Commission approved a backyard hen ordinance on first reading, Oviedo Community News reported Thursday.

Commissioners Sarah Baker, who proposed the rules, Victoria Bruce and Mark Caruso voted yes. Commissioner Paul Diaz voted no without explaining his vote at the meeting, and Commissioner Cade Resnick was absent, according to the report. A second and final vote is scheduled for the commission's 6:30 p.m. meeting on Monday, Oct. 26.

What the draft allows

The rules apply only to detached single-family homes, and the number of hens depends on lot size:

• 0.15 acre or smaller: none allowed
• Over 0.15 to 0.5 acre: 4 hens
• Over 0.5 to 1 acre: 6 hens
• Over 1 to 2 acres: 12 hens
• More than 2 acres: 20 hens

Roosters are banned because of noise, and the ordinance keeps the prohibition on other livestock such as ducks, geese and goats. Owners would need a coop plus a fenced, covered run, kept in the backyard and hidden from neighbors by a fence or landscaping. Hens could roam inside that enclosure only under supervision.

The birds would be for personal use. Selling eggs, feathers or manure, and breeding, would not be allowed. A building permit would be needed only for a coop larger than 120 square feet. Baker said most coops will be about the size of a doghouse.

Homeowners associations could still forbid chickens, and the ordinance puts responsibility for following those rules on the owner. City officials have not settled whether people who already keep animals under current rules would be allowed to continue, the outlet reported.

Supporters and critics

Two people who addressed the commission opposed the ordinance. One asked for more public input before a decision and suggested it go back to the Planning and Zoning Board; another raised concerns about smell and noise.

Bruce said she supports people being able to get food, including eggs, from their own yards. Mayor Kevin McCann said neighbors of his who keep chickens have caused him no trouble, but that the limits are meant to protect residents from the worst-case owner.

Baker, who keeps nine hens at her Tuscawilla home, told the outlet her property sits in a planned unit development without a mandatory HOA, which is why she can have them under current city law.

Sources

oviedocommunitynews.org