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Chickens still on hold
Prince William officials still aren't sure about chickens.Last Wednesday, the county Planning Commission again took up the question of whether to allow suburban residents to raise chickens and again they put off a decision.
Chicken-raising is a growing trend in cities and suburbs around the country and Prince William officials seem all but certain to follow suit eventually. Planners just keep getting bogged down as they try to hammer out the details.
“Chickens are very hip right now in the urban areas,” said Occoquan Commissioner Kim Hosen, arguing that a decision should be made immediately. “I think it's a transition maybe that would be positive here.”
But commission Chair Gary Friedman still had questions and not all of the commissioners are on board with the concept of urban chickens.
Dumfries Commissioner Rene Fry said the idea of keeping chickens in residential neighborhoods is “lunacy” and that since a rooster can be heard a half-mile away, 320 acres seems like an appropriate lot size for fowl.
That's a bit higher than what they're actually considering though.
The planning staff is looking at allowing chickens on two-acre lots. Chicken supporters have pushed to get birds on one-acre lots but it appears as though the commission won't go that low.
“It's a lot easier to loosen things up than to tighten them up,” said Friedman, who said he wants to start with a conservative approach since Prince William has never allowed chickens before.
Currently, Prince William only allows chickens and other fowl in agricultural areas.
That means if your house sits on five acres, you can't have chickens in your backyard.
Vic Cole, who is leading the residents' movement to bring chickens to the county, said there are many places in Prince William where you can keep 19 horses but not one chicken.
Cole also showed a U.S. government flier from 1918 that declares “Uncle Sam expects you to keep hens and raise chickens.”
The flier goes on to suggest that it is a family's patriotic duty to keep two chickens for each person in the home.
Prince William's anti-chicken policy is “a draconian ordinance that's completely out of step with the rest of the country,” he said.
Not everyone agrees. Christopher Wallace lives in the Coles District and said his neighbor has been keeping chickens.
“I think this is totally unacceptable,” he said of the proposal to allow up to 10 chickens on a one-acre lot. “Ten is way too much.”
Wallace complained of the “terrible smell” and said the chickens have been causing problems in the neighborhood. His wife added that the neighbor's chickens often come into her yard and that they attract predators.
Chicken supporters counter that chicken coops, like dog houses, need to be kept clean and that they don't smell if tended properly.
The proposed ordinance would require that on lots smaller than five acres, chickens must be kept in coops or cages and behind four-foot fences. The coops could only be kept in back yards and must be at least 15 feet from the property line.
The ordinance also allows other types of fowl on larger lots. On a one-acre lot, a resident could keep up to 10 chickens, pigeons or doves. On a two- to 10-acre lot, residents can have up to five ducks or three turkeys, geese or pea fowl, or one ostrich or emu.
The numbers of each type of animal vary by the lot size. Planner Nick Evers provided complicated tables showing, for instance, that on a five-acre lot, a resident can keep five pigeons, one goose and one duck; or two doves, two turkeys and a duck but no ostriches.
Those numbers are expected to change by the next round of Planning Commission hearings.
And regardless, the ordinance will not trump local homeowners association rules so neighborhoods with HOAs will still be able to ban chickens, turkeys and ostriches.
In places where they are allowed, residents would still need a permit to keep their chickens but that wouldn't be hard to come by unless neighbors object.
The Planning Commission will reconsider the issue again on Sept. 1 and the commissioners are expected to vote in favor of some version of the proposal.
The matter then goes to the Board of County Supervisors for final approval. While they may make further changes to the ordinance, they are also likely to approve some version of the residential chicken plan.
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