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Date: 6/28/2023
WESTFIELD — The proposal to allow homeowners to keep chickens and other small livestock in their backyards will return to the City Council agenda on July 6, after the Planning Board made a positive recommendation at its June 20 hearing.
The measure’s sponsor, Ward 3 City Councilor Ralph Figy, said several residents have approached him to ask that the law allow them to keep chickens. He said many people already have chickens on their property illegally. He said the current ordinance, which only allows chickens in Rural Residential zones on parcels with at least 5 acres, is only enforced if there are complaints.
His proposal is to allow up to six chickens in a coop on residential properties of at least 5,000 square feet. Also allowed per coop would be four rabbits, four ducks or 12 pigeons, doves or quail. “Immature offspring” would not count toward the maximum. Owning roosters would still require a 5-acre minimum, as would free-range chickens and horses, Figy said.
The proposed ordinance also would permit twice the small-lot allowance — thus, 12 chickens, eight rabbits or ducks, etc. — in lots of 2 acres or more in a Rural Residential district, as well as up to a total of six miniature, pygmy or dwarf goats, or pigs, or sheep.
Keepers of chickens or other livestock would have to register with the animal control officer, who would be allowed to inspect the property. The ordinance also specifies that structures must be well maintained and clean. The structures would have to comply with the usual size and setback restrictions for accessory buildings in the applicable zone.
At the Planning Board hearing, Liz Platt of Jefferson Street said she had moved to Westfield a year and a half ago from Boston. She said she was surprised to learn that she couldn’t legally have chickens on her property, because they are allowed in Boston.
“Our home sits on 0.3 acres, 13,000 square feet. There is plenty of room. I would really like chickens,” she said.
Grace Taylor, of South Maple Street, said she came to Westfield from Salem, where residents are allowed to raise chickens.
“I am a foster mom. I talk to my teenagers about food waste. Chickens can reduce food waste. This will give my refugee foster sons a place to have community. Chickens are a wonderful thing to have — not a nuisance, they are our friends,” she said.
Heather Scott, who called herself a supportive neighbor from Agawam who has been a chicken owner for three years, said she has 36 chickens and three roosters on her half-acre lot, which is zoned agricultural.
Scott said when you buy six chickens, you can’t guarantee they will only be hens.
“The way we started — my husband always wanted chickens. He is a disabled Army veteran with PTSD and anxiety. When COVID hit, he lost therapy, his support group, he lost everything. For his own therapy, chickens — taking care of them, building the coop — has been amazing for his mental stability,” she said.
Scott added that they have also been good for her 16-year-old son who never wanted to leave the computer screen.
“Oh, my God, does he take care of these chickens. He is the best chicken tender ever — what it has given to my son and husband, I would never want to take that away,” she said, adding they brought a sense of community, including among other veterans who come and help with the project.
Planning Board members had several suggestions for the ordinance.
Board member Cheryl Crowe asked Figy to clarify the section that sets limits on the numbers of “chickens, ducks and pigeons” in a yard. She asked if it should have read “chickens, ducks or pigeons.” Figy said he intended the limits to apply to only one type of bird.
Crowe also said she thought 5,000 square feet is too small as a lower limit, as did John Bowen, who recommended 10,000 square feet.
Richard Salois said he would like to see a change to allow twice the amount of animals on 1 acre in Rural Residential, as well as two each of cattle or horses on 1 acre.
“In this day and age, horses and cattle are not turned out to pasture, they are grain fed. You don’t need 5 acres to keep a horse these days,” he said, adding, “If you have a lot 100 feet wide and 400 feet deep, you could have a house, backyard and barn, and you still have 300 feet for a horse.”
Carellas asked if there would be a special permit in the ordinance. Vinskey said right now, chickens require a special permit in Rural Residential zones.
“If anything, I think this should be farther away from the Planning Board,” said board member Philip McEwan. He said the chicken ordinance has been around for 10 years, with three or four special permits coming through.
“It’s cumbersome, expensive and humiliating” for the applicants, he said.
“Then you leave the 5,000 square feet in,” Carellas said, adding, “Clearly, there are chickens out there — illegal chickens out there — and there should be a mechanism to make them legal. Most of the towns around us allow this. I think this is a really good thing. I think our recommendation should be a positive recommendation. If we want to get farther away from it, make it 5,000 square feet.”
A second public hearing on the ordinance amendment is scheduled for the City Council meeting on July 6. Before the full council takes it up, it will be discussed by the council’s Zoning, Planning and Development Committee. The council could vote on July 6 to adopt or reject the amendment.