North Huntingdon tightens rules on backyard chickens

North Huntingdon officials hope the long debate over backyard chickens has gone to roost.

A new ordinance prohibits chickens from being kept in a zoned residential neighborhood on less than one acre of property. The commissioners Wednesday voted 6-1 to adopt the new rules.

Commissioner Eric Gass, who cast the lone opposing vote, said he favored permitting chickens on smaller parcels to give them a secure source of food. He who has frequently argued for the rights of people to have chickens.

Commissioner Zachary Haigis said he wanted an ordinance that would require residents to have more than one acre of land in a residential area before they would be permitted to raise hens, but said the board majority opted for one acre. Haigis last month had voted against advertising the ordinance on the grounds that it should require a larger plot of land to have chickens in a neighborhood.

“This is just one more chicken vote,” said Commissioner Richard Gray, who has served on the board for about 20 years.

The new ordinance retains the prohibition against raising roosters and sets the limit at six hens. The hens must be kept in a coop and are not to given free range of a backyard. The coop must be kept 20 feet from the property line, which was part of the previous ordinance on backyard chickens.

With the new one-acre minimum lot size for keeping chickens, only 13% of properties would be eligible to apply for a permit to raise chickens, township officials have said.

The commissioners last month repealed a section of an ordinance that would allow the backyard chickens on residential property of at least 10,000 square feet to 40,000 square feet, depending on the zoning classification. Those residents had to obtain a conditional use permit from the township to keep the chickens in a coop on their land. Only a few residents were granted a conditional use permit to raise the chickens.

The new ordinance does not have an option for residents to apply for a special permit to raise chickens on a parcel smaller than one acre.

Township officials over the past few years have grappled with the issue of residents raising chickens without first obtaining a permit, as well as hearing from residents who opposed their neighbors who had chickens. The board in October 2022 attempted to set new rules for raising backyard chickens, but the seven commissioners never were able to come to a consensus on how much land would be required to raise the chickens.