chickens-changing ordinance-need more help (repost)

Help!-Needed!

Community comments are requested to be sent to the City of Phoenix: Vice Mayor Williams, as her researcher, Xandon K., looks into the current and strict ordinance for the raising of chickens within city limits. We need more public awareness and emails to be sent to her, to express to her our desire to have sustainable households right here in Phx. The time is now. They are welcoming community input on increasing interest for raising backyard chickens. ...there is a strict Code in PHX, that ALL your neighbors must give you written permission to have a chicken in your own backyard. Also, they must not be kept in an enclosure within eighty feet of any residence within the City. Is this not a bit over board? What a hassle! Let's get an amendent.

--In my letter, I used these key words : sustainable foods, increased subsidies/food stamps, AZ economic hardship, local 'chickens in every backyard', backyard gardens, homegrown, children education.

Why do you want chickens? Supplement your food supply- Fresh eggs from you own backyard, doesn‘t get more fresh than that! To teach your children how to raise a sustainable pet? Complement your garden? Mother Nature’s Bug control? Let Williams know! they are taking their sweet time researching- so we need to keep on them if we really want to have chickens in our backyards any time soon.

Use this...

direct link to shoot off a few sentences to the Vice Mayor.

Ownership is very easy in our surrounding towns, so why NOT Phx!

see

phoenix city code-

Sec. 8-7. - Poultry and rodents.(a)

Except as otherwise provided in this article, it is hereby declared to be a nuisance and it shall be unlawful for any person to keep rodents or poultry within the City. No poultry or rodents shall be kept in an enclosure within eighty feet of any residence within the City. Poultry may be kept within eighty feet of a residence if written permission consenting to the keeping of poultry less than eighty feet from a residence is first obtained from each lawful occupant and each lawful owner of such residence. Poultry shall not be kept in the front yard area of any lot or parcel within the City. Poultry and rodents shall be kept in an enclosure so constructed as to prevent such poultry and rodents from wandering upon property belonging to others.

When I met with Vice Mayor, she appeared receptive to making an amendment. Please help to nudge the votes of the counsilmen in a sustainable direction.

thank you,

Anastacia Andrade (aka-stace)

you can email me at

EcoliciousMama@gmail.com with questions

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Stace Andrade on May 25, 2011 at 7:06pm

thank you, mike:)

i own over a 1/4 acre of land and my chickens were cooped. it only took A call to the city, by my lovely neighbor, to get the ball rolling...the city was UP our you-know-what to get rid of 3 harmless gals. chickens don't smell and she claimed they did. she smelled my compost, one hot day, and picked up the phone. we got written permission from her and her kind husband, later and still, we had to get rid of the gals! she assume she called again, behind her own husbands back, and ours. (we also had to get a restraining order against her for HER other behaviors) she has sinced moved, but her daughter moved in. my hub doesn't want the city back. we had NO problems with our chickens when we lived in the downtown area... and we won't be moving back just to have chickens. a lousy neighbor should not keep a family from having a sustainable source of food crops coming from their own backyard.

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Permalink Reply by dj griffith on May 31, 2011 at 5:19pm

Stacie, just wondered how the amendment process is coming. Also thank you for your response about my cactus post. I do love the palo verde and mesquite. Our mesquite was killed by borers. I'd love to get with ya on what you have but we are low on fuel til june 15. Thanks for your message, I asked for your friendship so I can leave you messages.

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Permalink Reply by Stace Andrade on June 1, 2011 at 7:23pm

i called xandon and 'they are still working on it'. i met w him and williams 5 months ago! gov. gets paid to work at snail pace.

anytime you can meet up, i can dig them up a day you can meet off 101 or i-17 so you can plant them right away.

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Permalink Reply by dj griffith on May 31, 2011 at 5:27pm

You know, it's kinda funny...Your neighbor can have barking dogs whose poop smells cause they leave the dogs out barking all night and dont clean up after them, and it is literally an act of congress to get anything done about it. Phx PD explained to me that multiple letters have to be sent to the city attorney, then the deliberations and court process determine if those animals are a "public nuisance" and "menace". But clean quiet hens are classified with rodents like a health code issue. And apparently one bad neighbor = 1 city bureaucrat visit even though the law states chickens can be kept if your lot is 10,000 sf or more regardless of the neighbor. Bizarre!

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Permalink Reply by Stace Andrade on June 1, 2011 at 7:20pm

my thoughts exactly. rodents???!!! for crying out loud. can't remember a rodent gave me food.

i can remember the last rodent i found rading compost pile tho!

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Permalink Reply by Stace Andrade on June 3, 2011 at 4:41pm

get a permission letter b4...or ask your neighbors FIRST.

the letter to me is so OVER-board (as is the rest )and useless bc even after i received my letter from my B$$$$ neighbor, whose hub forced her to sign it, i think she turned around and called the city again.. bc the city forced me to get rid of them after all, bc of B$$$$. i think the letter is for the city to refer to if they come for another 'neighborhood services' call. its up to you whether you want to ask for permission or 'ask for forgiveness' bc you already have the gals in place.

you can promise to share extra ORGANIC eggs when asking for the 'ok'. it helps:):)

particularly funny, one of our 'gal' chicks ended up with crowing abilities and no one ever called. we got rid of him, bc he annoyed his own family, and he's not allowed. she called she said bc of a smell. yes, im on a rant- she should have showered... had to say it. with chicks, their is a 10% chance of a male in the group.

yes, it should be 'common sense'.

i was told over the phone, by a city worker, that the letters must be notarized!!! omg.