Politics & Government

Cluck, Cluck! County Approves Chicken Keeping Measure

If your property meets a few requirements, you too could have fresh eggs straight from your backyard.

Howard County chicken lovers cheered when the County Council approved zoning legislation last week that eased up restrictions on residential chicken keeping.

The new regulations allow county residents to add up to eight hens and a chicken coop on lots larger than 10,000 square feet as long as the coop sits 15 feet from a neighboring lot line and at least 50 feet from all neighboring dwellings inside the Planned Service Area, or most of eastern Howard County. The legislation also requires that the coop doesn’t create a nuisance.

The county requires that coops be kept odor free and that if a coop is no longer used it be taken down in less than a year.

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All County Council members approved the amended regulations.

Chickens in Howard County, a Facebook group that championed the issue wrote, “a big thank you to Mary Kay Sigaty who really championed this issue for us… Also, please try and be a good neighbor so chickens are welcomed in new neighborhoods.”

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The coops and hens are allowed in most residential districts except RH-ED, R-MH (mobile homes), R-SI (Senior housing) and R-VH (village housing).

Correction: Originally this article stated County Council member Courtney Watson voted against the chicken keeping measure. In fact, she voted against an amendment to lower the setback from neighboring homes from 50 to 25 feet, but voted to approve the overall legislation. We've corrected the article and regret the error.


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