ChrisJ wrote: | I'm new to this mailing list and joined because I've wanted to | raise a small flock (3-4) of chickens in my backyard for several | years. We own a house in NE Ithaca (Salem Drive, .45 acres) and | it is zoned Medium Density Residential. According to the online | TOI zoning rules, chickens can only be kept on Agricultural & Low | Density Residential properties (i.e. the decidedly country part of | the Town of Ithaca).
That's correct. | I don't think chicken keeping in those zones fit the concept of | city/town backyard chickens. So is my info out of date? Can we | raise chickens in the "Town" part of the Town of Ithaca? I'm not sure whether you're making a rhetorical point here or are unfamiliar with the use of "town" as it relates to New York State organizational terminology, which can be confusing if (like me) you come originally from points west or south. I'm going to guess that you know what "town" means here and are just trying to make a point about higher density zones vs. lower density zones. My personal opinion is that the Town should allow keeping a few hens on parcels in some of the higher density zones, and maybe someday we will see the Town zoning law changed to make that possible. But people opposed to such a change can say, not unreasonably, that if you wanted to raise chickens, you should have chosen to buy one of the many parcels in the Town that are zoned for that. My wife and I live in the Town on a place less than three miles from the City limits on which we could legally put a hog farm if we wanted to. There's plenty of agricultural and LDR land in the Town available to folks who want to get into growing things and are willing to get in a car when they need to go shopping. And this doesn't count sizable tracts in other parts of Tompkins County that are zoned agricultural or not zoned at all. The City of Ithaca is a different matter. If you want a way of life in which you can walk to services (which I think everyone on this list will agree is a highly desirable goal, but which clearly you decided was not a priority), and you want fresh eggs from your own back yard, you are currently out of luck. A growing number of cities around the country are finding that backyard chickens can easily be accommodated with few problems if the relevant ordinances are properly written. If the economy continues to deteriorate, some City residents are going to start wanting to raise chickens just to save money. I think it would be smart of the City to get ahead of this trend. But I'm afraid you're not going to get much sympathy from current residents of the Town for choosing to live on land that isn't zoned to allow such uses. Jon _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins Questions about the list? ask [email protected] free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
