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Date: 1/4/2024
EAST LONGMEADOW — After vehement opposition by residents at two public hearings, the Planning Board voted down a proposed bylaw amendment that would have limited the number of chickens allowed on residential property and potentially outlawed roosters.
Building Commissioner and Zone Enforcement Officer David Gardner proposed the amendment in the fall of 2023 after a handful of residents had complained to him about neighbors who owned chickens.
Gardner researched the town’s laws and found there were no regulations regarding keeping chickens in a residential zone.
The amendment he proposed would have allowed residents to keep a flock of up to 12 hens on residential property of 10,000 square feet or larger. Smaller properties could request a site plan waiver from the Planning Department.
Roosters would have been prohibited, due to noise concerns. The amendment also sought coop setbacks of 25 feet from side and rear lot lines and 25 feet from human dwellings.
Residents expressed outrage about all parts of the amendment, but especially the banning of roosters, as they are needed to fertilize eggs and create a sustainable flock. They also argued that roosters protect the flock from predators, such as hawks.
The Planning Board was joined by Deputy Town Manager Rebecca Lisi, who explained that a meeting between the Town Manager’s Office and the Health and Planning departments had been called to discuss the proposed bylaw amendment and the feedback from residents at the Oct. 17, 2023, meeting. It was decided roosters could be allowed because state health laws and the town’s nuisance complaint bylaw offered enough regulation to counteract concerns.
Before members of the public addressed the board, Chair Russell Denver admonished the crowd against outbursts and name calling, referring to the previous meeting on the matter in which a resident called Gardner and the amendment proposal “communist” and “un-American.”
“We’re going to have civility,” Denver said, and warned that he would stop testimony if people’s behavior got out of hand.
Resident Dawn Fonte asked why 12 hens was chosen as a maximum flock size. Gardner explained that it was the size used in the bylaws of other area towns. Fonte then said chicks are usually sold in sets of six or more and if a chicken dies or stops laying eggs, the owner may want to buy more chicks to replace it, making it hard to stay below a flock 12.
“What is too many in a residential district?” Denver asked her. She suggested that a minimum square foot of property per chicken be used instead of a fixed number.
Residents Steve Clines, John Burney and Town Council President Ralph Page spoke about East Longmeadow being a farming community. Clines shared that he had six hens and had accidentally bought two roosters who had been misidentified as chicks. Because his property was too small for two roosters, he said he had to “dispatch” one and called the experience “traumatic.”
While Clines admitted his rooster crows a few times per day, he said his neighbors have never complained.
He also noted that his coop, a converted shed, is close to his property line. Replacing it would cost time and money “for something that is not a problem for us or our neighbors.”
Stefani Pysz said following the proposed setbacks would make it impossible for her and many others to keep chickens. Enrico Oliveri also commented on the setbacks. He said he followed the accessory building setbacks, which require a building be 5 feet from property lines, when building his coop.
Demolishing and rebuilding the coop would cost about $1,000, he said. Oliveri also said there are best practices for the space needed for chicken husbandry, and regulations are not required.
Burney, owner of Meadowbrook Farm, agreed. “Is regulation really necessary?” he asked. Similar to the matter of keeping roosters, he said the existing state laws and town bylaws regarding noise and animal control should offer enough oversight.
Planning Board member Peter Punderson agreed with Burney that regulation was not needed, and that East Longmeadow is a right-to-farm community. Fellow Planning Board members William Fonseca and Robert Tirrell agreed.
Denver felt similarly, but before the amendment was unanimously voted down, he emphasized that some residents are not happy living next to chickens and people have a legal right to “the quiet enjoyment of their property.