Herald Tribune covers renewed push for hens

More than a week after the Sarasota County Commission acted the Sarasota Herald Tribune ran a Zach Murdoch story about the renewed push for backyard hens. You can read the story here. 

One part article makes it seem as though there is some question about "whether homeowners' associations and deed restricted communities would be able to adopt rules limiting chickens in their own communities." 

The City of Sarasota ordinance is very clear, CLUCK has been clear, and the Commissioners have been clear that those neighborhoods with mandatory Homeowner Associations (HOAs) will be able to adopt prohibitions on poultry that supersede any County permissions. 

One Commissioner has proven to be a wellspring of objections, concerns, and Rumpelstiltskin-worthy tasks. The other four have voted to move forward.  The article quoted Commissioner Robinson expressing concerns about financial impact, neighborhood impact, and abandoned pets. None of these has been a measurable issue in the City of Sarasota, which as of this posting has allowed chickens for five years, one month and ten days. 

CLUCK's coverage of the commission action may be seen by clicking here. 

Nokomis Chicken Issue Re-Ignites Push for Backyard Hens in Sarasota County

Three Barred Rocks have re-energized the five-year-old quest to legalize backyard hens in Unincorporated Sarasota. The three hens, Big Barb, Wendy, and Lucy, belong to Christina and Tyler Korman who assumed it was okay to have a few egg-producing pets in Nokomis.

On August 20th they were informed they had about two weeks to get rid of the birds or face a daily fine of $250 dollars. But instead of giving up or paying a fine, the couple got creative and secured permission to have their birds serve as "sentinel chickens", which provide a valuable service to the county. In addition the neighbor that complained, rethought things.

On Friday November 14th, instead of being directed to pay $18,250, Special Magistrate Robert Zack gave the couple until December 19th to see if the County Commission might be sympathetic to their plight and direct staff to work on changing the rules.

This deadline has motived Sarasota CLUCK members who have been looking for an opportunity to re-invigorate the campaign that started in June of 2009. After 18 months the group secured a three year trial period in the City of Sarasota. Meanwhile the group tried to interest the Sarasota County Commission in allowing hens in the Unincorporated County. One common question was: "What is the experience in the City?" That was answered in early 2014 at the end of three year trial period when the City Commission made the change permanent. Despite the City success, the former County Commission showed little interest in making a change.

Since CLUCK was formed backyard hens have been allowed in Duval County (Jacksonville), Manatee County, Hernando County, and Pinellas County. Their experience, combined with the realities in the City of Sarasota and Venice, argue that Sarasota County now needs to bring county rules into alignment with the City. 

On Tuesday the 18th a new Commission will be seated, one that includes Paul Caragiulo, who was a City Commissioner during the initial CLUCK campaign. The intersection of the Magistrate's deadline  with the new commission has county chicken advocates optimistic that the Commission will finally listen to their requests.

Read the Sarasota Herald Tribune story here.

CLUCK "Re-Coops" - Two Meetings in February

Sarasota CLUCK is back in gear with two important events in February. (And with 99,595 pageviews on January 26th, we're about to celebrate 100,000 pageviews!)

First, on Saturday February 8th, another Chickens 101 Workshop is being offered by our local Sarasota Extension Office. (See poster below for details). If you've been curious about chickens and or have some and need more information, don't miss this half-day workshop. 

Then, ten days later, on Tuesday February 18th at 5:00 p.m. we're holding a CLUCK meeting in downtown Sarasota for the purpose of "re-cooping". Yes, we're restarting the campaign to legalize backyard hens in suburban areas of unincorporated Sarasota County. We've been biding our time, and believe this is a great time to restart the effort. The location is still being determined. Leave a comment and we'll be sure to let you know where we're meeting. 

CLUCK asks: Do Backyard Hens or Coops Affect Real Estate Values?

"I won't be able to sell my house!" "Is the government going to pay me for the reduction in value?" These are the plaintive arguments we hear when local governments consider relaxing chicken ordinances - the fear that chickens negatively affect property values. And we hear it from some realtors.

I'm not sure I would say realtors are skittish, but they all probably have a story about a seemingly minor detail costing them thousands of dollars of commission fees when a hot prospect discovers what they think is a fatal flaw.

Photo from Center for Biological Diversity (not a New Jersey deer). 

True Story: My father was an experienced salesman who worked in Manhattan. One summer he thought he would try his hand at real estate after he came home from work. So one evening he was showing an urban couple a new home in a subdivision carved out of former New Jersey farmland. The couple was clearly interested and my observant father, hoping to seal the deal, drew their attention to a magnificent buck standing bathed in the setting rays at the edge of the woods. The woman froze, turned to her husband and demanded to be taken back to the city immediately, opining that she had no intention of living where there were wild animals. The sight of the animal that so thrilled my father, terrified the woman -- so you never know. Probably some people immediately walk out of homes with spas or granite counters.

Consequently, I'm sure that somewhere in the US a modest coop in a neighbor's yard has made a deal head south. There are alektorophobes out there. But that's a far cry from the inevitable allegations that allowing backyard hens will "obviously" depress property values. What depresses property values is the behavior of  irresponsible neighbors that color outside the lines of the neighborhood norms or standards -- and people don't need chickens to do that. There is no dormant irresponsible neighbor gene that only gets expressed when chickens enter the picture. Jerks will be jerks with or without chickens. 

A prominent realtor here in Sarasota told me that if your neighbor paints their house pink or has three lawn ornaments in their front yard, that will affect your ability to get your price more than a few hens in your backyard. For people who don't want to take that risk there are mandatory Residential Community Associations (RCAs) that uses codes, covenants, and other restrictions to enforce standards.

The rest of us live in neighborhoods with no neighborhood associations or voluntary associations that lack the power to enforce. These neighborhoods rely on municipal codes to set limits on what is acceptable so you run the risk of having a neighbor with a pink house, or three lawn ornaments. (You also have a lot more latitude to do what you want on your property.)

As far as CLUCK knows, no one has produced any data that suggests backyard hens lower property values. But there does seems to be some indirect evidence that coops are either neutral or potential assets. One real estate brokerage (Redfin) has named "the top five chicken cities" based on homes recently listed in MLS that mention coops as a feature. These cities are not Camden New Jersey or Detroit Michigan, but places people want to move to and live:

Portland: This graphic may say it all:

This wikipedia graphic shows Portland has a strong housing market
in spite of (because of?) being the most chicken friendly city.

California cities in the top five are Ventura, San Diego, and Sacramento. Seattle rounds out the list.

Some might say advertising a coop is simply attempting to make a virtue out of a necessity, but if coops were clearly deal-killers, they would not be mentioned (or owners would get rid of them before putting the property on the market). And if chickens poisoned the real estate market, would 19 of the 25 largest cities in the US allow backyard hens?

Not only does Redfin identify chicken-friendly cities, they post listings for properties that feature coops. Last time I checked, there were 75 properties FEATURING chicken coops (with photos). Check it out. 

An enterprising researcher, Anna Altic, looked at a 2010 Forbes article profiling the top ten housing markets appreciating in value and found nine allowed chickens. Then she looked at the ten sickest housing markets. Guess what? Only three allowed chickens. Does that prove anything? No, but it suggests chickens need not be a drag on a housing market and than banning chickens is not a key to a strong market. Read her article here.

So what are the top four reasons backyard hens or coops appear to be neutral or assets when selling a home?

1) Some MLS properties are now FEATURING chicken coops. - You don't advertise a problem.

2) Cities with strong real estate markets are chicken-friendly. And places young people want to move are chicken friendly. See also the data in Can Backyard Chickens Make Sarasota Hip?

3) The vast majority of large/major US cities allow backyard hens. If they were deal-killers, this number would not be so high. (This urban reality also punches a gigantic hole in the "farm animal" or "livestock" argument).

4) No one seems to have produced any data (that's different than a random anecdote or supposition) that backyard hens or coops by themselves depress real estate values.

Manatee County Approves Backyard Hens!

After a long campaign led by Manatee CLUCK, the Manatee County Commission voted on June 4th to allow single family homeowners in the unincorporated county to have up to four backyard hens.

Detail of artwork by Old Miakka artist, Jean Blackburn, which may be seen at Bradenton Riverwalk

The vote was 4-2 with Commissioners Chappie, Gallen, Bustle and Whitmore voting for Whitmore's motion. Commissioners Benac and Baugh voted against. Commissioner Benac conceded chickens could be pets, but voiced concerns about the impact on neighborhoods. Her position evolved more than Commissioner DiSabatino who seemed stuck on her position that chickens can only be farm animals. 

Commissioner DiSabatino had a conflicting appointment, but prior to leaving reported she would have voted against the motion -- shattering any illusion that she was open-minded since her announcement preceded the public testimony.

There was some confusion regarding the draft ordinance because staff had submitted CLUCK's preferred limit of 12 chickens and the Board seemed intent on voting on staff's preferred alternative, which was four hens. The motion that passed also increased the side setback from 20 to 25 feet. 

Much credit is due Rob Kluson who combined professional expertise and volunteer dedication to shepherd the process and keep Manatee CLUCK chicken advocates motivated for several years.

Manatee County joins Hernando and Pinellas counties and the City of Sarasota as governments that have recently voted to relax regulations on keeping backyard hens. 

The ordinance wording may be found by clicking on this highlighted text.