Proposed ordinance brings ‘a lot of regulations’ to those in Piqua wanting backyard chickens

One Miami County city could soon be able to keep chickens in their backyards.

In March, the Piqua City Commission was presented with suggested revisions to the city’s current ordinance on prohibited livestock animals.

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Currently, residential properties under five acres cannot have chickens, and this proposal would change that with a number of regulations and standards.

Before the city commission meeting, a draft of the new ordinance was presented to the planning commission on February 14, according to documents from the March 21 meeting. After revision, the planning commission approved the proposed ordinance changes on March 14.

The proposed changes allow community members to have a maximum of six hens, no roosters, no slaughtering can take place on the property, maintain a specific coop and run enclosures and care standards.

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Additionally, those wanting backyard chickens will have to meet many different standards, such as a fence and landscaped screening, coops must be placed 30 feet away from a neighbor’s property, and coops will need predator-proof latches.

However, some residents may still not be able to have chickens if their Homeowners Association prevents the ownership of backyard chickens. For the next reading of the ordinance, the commissioners requested a comprehensive list of all subdivisions that would not be allowed to have chickens.

“Someone would apply for a zoning permit, we’d say, okay, here are your dimension, and let’s let’s see your site plan just like any other development permit, then you would construct your coop to the standards listed here, somebody would go out and inspect the coop, and then after that point, you’re okay to buy your chickens,” City Planner Kyrsten French explained.

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Code compliance officers of the city would handle the inspections, violations, and complaints.

“A lot of regulations people want them; they’re really going to have to do the work in order to do the upkeep and to maintain them,” Vice Mayor Kris Lee said.

Commissioner Jim Vetter voiced concerns over the disposal of manure.

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“I’m concerned that on some occasions the leftovers from the chicken’s feathers included might end up in our in our trash disposal process, subjecting our employees to other kinds of issues,” Vetter said.

Currently, as the revisions read, community members would be required to dispose of bedding and manure in a plastic bag.

“I think if you if we needed to get rid of the manure of the trash, isn’t there a place on 25A that the compost can be taken to, or we could take the compost from the bedding out of the coop to our local farmers or something for them to be able to reuse that’s something I think that we could possibly include in that if we need to get rid of the bedding. I’m sure there’s lots of farmers that would love to have that,” Paige Steaman said

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Not all residents are welcoming to the idea of backyard chickens.

“The main one is health concerns; The Centers for Disease Control, starting about two or three years ago is starting to say they’re saying this is coming up as an issue and so why should Piqua join in with this Center for Disease Control epidemiology studies I mean it’s a choice you’re making I suggest we not we choose not,” Gary Koenig said.

The full proposal of the ordinance can be found here, starting on page 27. The second reading of the ordinance will be April 4, and the third reading will be April 18.