Moser: Chickens Least of Neighborhood Worries

Opinion 

A couple of weeks ago, I watched a very nice man and his wife approach the lectern at a Prince William County Board of County Supervisors meeting  (Click the link, then advance the video to about the 45:00 mark, or use the slide bar to drag down to citizens time.)

The Ormsbys came to talk about changing the ordinance to allow them to have chickens in their yard. I don’t know if the Ormsbys were familiar with how recently the local ordinances were amended, but in April of 2011 there was a major overhaul that really got a lot of feathers ruffled! This zoning text amendment was a huge document. Staff labored to craft the best solution for all parties.

I felt very sympathetic to the Ormsbys. It was their first foray into the way Prince William’s Government works. I believe they thought that after Supervisor John Jenkins got their letter requesting an overhaul of the ordinance, it would be forthcoming. The Ormsbys were sincere in their desire to raise chickens and have even created a Facebook page, titled CLUCK.

I am also sympathetic to the idea of raising your own food because I am relatively certain we are all being poisoned by the additives, chemicals, antibiotics and hormones in our food.

I also have a number of friends who think the county should stop making life “difficult” for residents and allow folks to live any way they choose on their own property. Unfortunately, my sympathy ends right about there.

There are endless problems in a non-HOA neighborhood. Your grass or weeds grow through the fence into my neatly kept lawn. Your dogs lift their leg and urinate on my flowers, killing them. Your dog barks. Your dog is supposed to be on a leash. Your dog left feces on my lawn.

Your cat thinks my herb garden is a big litter box. You cat is killing the birds. Your tree is hanging over my house, car, or driveway. It’s dropping apples or helicopters or sweet gum balls.

Your teenager is playing music too loud. You’re taking up every parking space with all your vehicles. Your yard looks like a dump heap. Your kids’ toys are in the street. Your kids are in the street. You haven’t mowed the grass. You left grass clippings on the walk or in the street.

You’re running a business, parking commercial vehicles, have too many people, or are working on cars in the street.

I really don’t know if chickens are a bad idea in a residential neighborhood. I haven’t been around them much since I was a kid, visiting my uncle’s farm. What I do know is it took a lot of time and effort to create that ordinance. We spent quite a few tax dollars to get that right.

More than that, I know we already have enough problems in our older neighborhoods. It’s difficult and expensive to get ordinances amended and odds are good if you please one neighbor, you offend two more. Why, the next thing you know, someone will want to grow corn in their front yard!

For further reading, try these links: Chicken Sanctuary, Pet Chickens, and Abandoned Chickens