The Lookout Mountain, Ga., Planning Commission on Tuesday night set up conditions required to raise chickens in the town.
The panel also moved toward having a group from the city draw up a comprehensive plan for future growth rather than pay a consultant to do it.
At the February meeting of the town council, keeping chickens in the city limits was approved.
City Attorney Bill Pickering advised that amending the zoning ordinance would be the best way to regulate the practice.
The draft of the amended zoning ordinance created by Attorney Pickering added the keeping of chickens as a permitted use within the Single Family Residential district.
Certain stipulations will also be required.
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The owner of the house where they are to be kept will be required to make the application for raising chickens.
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The property owner will have to be up to date on all city bills such as property taxes, sewer and garbage bills.
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There will be a limited number of permits issued throughout the city. The town council has recommended 15 as a maximum number of licenses at any one time. A license will be renewable annually, and if not renewed by Jan. 30, a notice will be sent to the owner who will have until Feb. 28 to keep it for another year.
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Only chickens can be kept, roosters will be prohibited.
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No other type of fowl such as ducks or geese will be allowed.
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No selling of eggs will be allowed on the premises where they are kept in order to prevent customers from coming to the house.
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No slaughtering of chickens will be allowed.
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Chickens will be restricted to a fully fenced back yard of a home. The type of fencing must conform to the Lookout Mountain, Ga. fence ordinance. The owner will also have the option of keeping chickens in a “self contained coop” at all times. The definition of the construction and design standards of a coop will be created by a “chicken committee” and will be included in the ordinance. Approval of the structure will be part of the process for obtaining a permit. The city manager will give the final authorization for the coop design.
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The backyard requirement will eliminate any house located on a corner from having chickens because the city code defines a corner lot as having two side lots, no back yard.
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Chickens must be penned up at night. This requirement is to deter predators.
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A lot must be a minimum of a half acre to qualify. Lot sizes relating to this ordinance have been categorized as a half acre – one acre, one – three acres, three – five acres and five acres or more. The number of chickens allowed will depend on the size of the lot. Determining these numbers will be done by the chicken committee which will make a recommendation to the city council which will make the final decision.
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Setbacks for the coops will be a minimum of 20 feet from the property line.
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Violations of the ordinance will be decided by the court after being ticketed by police for a second proven violation. Punishment will be according to the current city ordinances plus revocation of the chicken license.
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The ordinance will be valid for an initial two-year period, to assess how it is working. It will automatically sunset if not renewed by the town council at that time.
The town council has had difficulty in trying to pass a PUD ordinance within the town in order to establish an area for higher density than is currently allowed. The problem has been attributed to the fact that a comprehensive plan, which would create a vision for the town and a plan for growth, has never been adopted. In 2009, consultant Phil Walker worked with the city to create a master plan but it was not formally approved. There is $10,000 in the current budget which is insufficient to complete that plan now.
Cindy Whitaker, a member of the planning commission, has worked in municipal planning in the past. She suggested that a group can be formed to create a comprehensive plan without hiring a consultant. The group will be under her direction and include other commission members, representatives from the community and at least one city council member. The commissioners discussed how to proceed from there.
The survey that was done in 2009 to determine what the citizens wanted at that time will be the starting point. The goal will be to get the entire community to participate and give input. There will be an attempt to find questions that are not on the old survey that need to be answered. The new Town Center project and the plan to create a system of trails through the town will be added to and included in the new comprehensive plan.
Mayor David Bennett, in a letter to the planning commission, said the process should be transparent with open discussions and should be done with a sense of urgency.
The first step for the group which is tasked with creating the plan will be to develop a new survey, which may be ready by the next planning commission meeting.