By Amanda Estes

Staff Writer

    In order to be successful in their campaign for a
pet, most children have to convince their parents that they are
responsible enough to care for an animal. Ten-year-old Olivia Collins,
however, faces an additional challenge: convincing the South Portland
City Council that she should be allowed to raise chickens on her
family’s 5,500 square foot lot in the city’s Thornton Heights
neighborhood. 

    “I believe in helping the environment and
sustainable living,” Collins said addressing the council. “Chickens are
the ultimate ‘Reduce/Recycle/Reuse’ because they eat garden scraps and
then provide fertilizer for the garden and fresh eggs.” She said local,
organic eggs are healthier for the body and reduce dependence on “food
from far away.”

    Collins is interested in raising heritage breeds of
chickens, which were used for backyard flocks in colonial times. If
handled when they are chicks, she said hens could be “fun and
affectionate pets.” Roosters are not included in her request.

    South Portland’s residential zoning ordinances
currently state “the keeping of farm-type animals, including but not
limited to horses, ponies, cattle, pigs and fowl, the keeping of dogs,
cats, and rabbits for commercial purposes and other uses offensive and
detrimental to the neighborhood are prohibited.” Collins and her family
are requesting the ordinance be amended to state, “fowl other than five
or fewer pet hens; the keeping of dogs, cats, hens, and rabbits for
commercial purposes…are prohibited.”

    At last Wednesday’s council workshop, Collins
request to amend the zoning ordinances was met with hesitation from the
council and city officials. Planning and Development Director Tex
Haeuser also cited concerns regarding property values, health risks,
requests for other types of domestic animals and an increased burden on
animal control and health officers. 

     Jim Soule and Linda Boudreau both were
initially in favor of what Boudreau called “just another pet,” but then
they expressed concern over moving ahead too quickly.

    “I’m more inclined to think at least in the first
year, we could have a lot of chickens that weren’t thought out,”
Boudreau said. She said the impact on property values was another
reason for her hesitation.

    “I would worry if I looked out into the neighbor’s house and saw a chicken house,” she said.

    Stacey Collins, Olivia’s mother, said backyard
chickens are “a growing trend in educated, upscale communities.”

    “The chicken coop we would like to build will be
stick-built and sided in clapboards, with the same roofing as our house
and garage,” she said in an email responding to the council’s concerns.
“It will be painted to match the house; yellow with white trim. It will
have opening windows and a window box with flowers.”

    Collins pointed to Cape Elizabeth, where residents
can keep chickens for non-commercial purposes, and Westbrook, which is
in the process of considering an ordinance change, as examples of two
urban areas that are receptive to the concept of backyard chickens.

    Bruce Smith, Code Enforcement Officer in Cape
Elizabeth, said the town allows residents to raise chickens for pets or
for eggs, but residents cannot even put up a sign advertising eggs for
sale. He said the only restriction within any of the residential
districts that allow agriculture is that residents with less than
100,000 square feet can have fowl and livestock for their own use only.


    When asked if there were any restrictions in the
town’s Broad Cove area, which Soule specifically inquired about, Smith
said there might be some neighborhood association covenants in
subdivisions that prohibit the keeping of chickens.

    “Most smart developers, for their own protection,
would probably disallow the keeping of animals or livestock,” he said.

    Smith said the only complaints he hears are when
residents let their chickens run loose and they wander onto someone
else’s property. He said that has only happened “a couple of times” as
most residents keep their chickens in a fenced in area.

    Most of the chicken coops are “done up fairly nice,”
Smith said. He said many of the coops look like small sheds. He said he
knows of one coop in the town constructed with granite and a copper
roof that is worth roughly $40,000.

    Diana Brown, Assistant Code Enforcement Officer for
the city of Westbrook, said the planning board made a recommendation to
allow for six fowl to be allowed on lots 10,000 square feet or larger.
She said the city council would be making a decision within a couple of
weeks. 

    Collins said she and Olivia spoke to more than 40 of their neighbors about their desire to raise chickens.

    “We thought for sure we were going to have some
opposition,” she said last Thursday. “We were shocked…everybody was 100
percent supportive.”

    Val Bramble, who lives five houses down the street from Collins, said she supported the family’s project.

    “I am inspired by folks who try to grow their own
food and do what they can to take care of themselves,” she said.

    She said she could understand why some people might
be opposed because it may be difficult to monitor everyone’s animals,
however, she said the issues are no different than with any other pet.
“I don’t think people would take advantage of having chickens. There
won’t be a run on chickens around here.”

    At the workshop, Councilor Kay Loring disagreed and
said she would not be in favor of supporting what could be a
trend-starting event. She said a public hearing on the issue would
likely bring out a lot of unhappy people.

    “It is not at all easy or convenient to purchase
baby chicks,” Collins said. “The nearest feed stores are quite a drive
away and are careful to talk people out of impulse buys.”

    State Veterinarian Donald Hoenig said state
regulations only allow for the purchase of six chicks at a time. 
He said if the chickens are kept in a sanitary manner and away from
migratory birds, they do not pose a health threat.

     South Portland Animal Control Officer Stanley
Brown said chickens would also need to be kept away from foxes,
coyotes, fisher cats and other predators.

    “I’m not against chickens, I grew up on a farm and
had a chicken,” he said. “There are a lot of things we do have to think
about.”

     Haeuser proposed the council consider allowing
up to five hens with no minimum lot size with the following conditions:
payment of a $50 fee, submission of abutters’ written approval, absence
of any written objections after notice is sent to property owners
within 150 feet of applicant’s property, receipt of signed release form
relieving the city of any responsibility for protecting the chickens
from predators and allowing for removal of the chickens if they pose a
possible health threat or if an abutter has rescinded approval within
45 days.

     The council will likely take up the issue at another workshop within the next week.