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Escambia County Won’t Impose Additional Regulations On Chickens
February 15, 2013
The Escambia County Commission has chickened out of a new ordinance regulating the raising of chickens in the county, mostly because the cost would be more than just chicken feed.
Last year, the City of Pensacola passed an ordinance that regulated chickens within the city limits. After observing if the ordinance would fly in the city, the county commission took up the issue Thursday morning.
“I don’t think they have detained, arrested or incarcerated any of them,” Lloyd Kerr, the county’s director of Development Services, said about chickens in the city since their ordinance went into effect.
The ordinance considered by the county would have regulated chickens to lots at least one acre is size, no more than eight chickens per residence, no roosters, required coops to protect the chickens from predators, and not allowed the sale of chickens.
County staff had estimated the cost to enforce the ordinance at $115,425 to hire three new animal control officers, $134,505 for three additional animal control vehicles and additional costs since the county animal shelter currently has no way to keep chickens.
“I’m not going to be for spending $300,000 to $400,000 so people can raise chickens in residential neighborhoods,” Commissioner Wilson Robertson said. “I will not support that kind of money to go out and worry about a loose chicken somewhere.”
District 5 Commissioner Steven Barry questioned if problem chickens were even a real issue in the county. He said his office has received literally just one call about chickens running wild in a neighborhood. He said he visited the area and found most neighbors were were aware of the feral chickens, some even feeding them, without any complaints.
Commissioners voted not to support a new chicken ordinance, instead sticking with the county’s current ordinance that allows chickens only in areas zoned agriculture or rural.
Comments
32 Responses to “Escambia County Won’t Impose Additional Regulations On Chickens”
REGARDING:
“Please attend the townhall meeting at Molino Community complex on Feb. 25 @ 5:30pm, and ask Mr. Barry why we are wasting tax dollars on this chicken thing?! Another example of Pensacola wasting county tax dollars!”
Unless I missed something, the county isn’t spending any money on it because they opted out of passing such an ordinance. Further, the city of Pensacola isn’t spending county dollars, they are spending city dollars.
David for distinctions
and guinea fowl
They *want* you to believe that it is a waste of tax dollars to make it go away! Counties all over Florida and the U.S. are allowing chickens in residential areas and it isn’t causing any governments to go broke!
The commissioners don’t care about chickens so they are presenting inflated numbers to make it look like they are fiscally responsible by rejecting changes to the ordinance. If it’s something *they* want, like more money for the ECAT, they don’t have a problem with running up taxes to pay for it!!
And no one wants to take chickens or roosters away from people in rural areas! Did you realize that you already are required to own 1.5-2 acres even in rural areas to own chickens? If anyone complains about them for any reason, you have to get rid of them. Case closed, end of story. I wish the same was true of my neighbor’s pit bulls who bark day and night. They claim they can’t do anything about that!
Please attend the townhall meeting at Molino Community complex on Feb. 25 @ 5:30pm, and ask Mr. Barry why we are wasting tax dollars on this chicken thing?! Another example of Pensacola wasting county tax dollars!
Hey to all that don’t like banties/Chickens. Never heard of a chicken having to have rabbie shots. I have dogs all around me and even coming in my yard crapping in my yard. Don’t hear any complaints about that. I give bantum eggs to my neighbors and they love them. Much better tasting with more vitamins then what you buy. Its America guys, please leave our feathered friends alone. Thanks
Wasnt there a commissioner recently. Banty rooster was his name. no wonder they want to ban roosters! Couldnt resist the pun.
My experience with most of the commissioners have been positive. Glad that common sense prevailed.
OH!!!!!! MY!!!!!!!!! THE CHICKENS ARE ATTACKING ALL THE NEIGHBORS IN THE COUNTY!!!!!! WE ARE BEING OVERRUN WITH VIOLENT CHICKENS!!!!!!! THEY ARE EVIDENTLY FALLING OUT OF THE SKY AND ATTACKING ALL THE PEOPLE!!!!!! This county has become like the rest of our country. One little incident in which the right persons squeal and complain like little kids then the rest of us are required to give up more rights to the crybabies!!!!!!!!!
chickens chickens chickens, surely there are much more important issues to handle in our county, spending our hard earned cash on people that worry about chickens is hardly in the best interst of our county,…. What ever became of the right to “use” our own property? If your livestock and pets are not hindering your neighbors, then what the heck is the problem? There are many many more important issues to contend with in this county, to say the least
To comment on who we put in office in Escambia County Comissioners,wel I’am in 1st district and I voted for somebody different but my vote was not good enough because the incumbent still got re-elected. GO figure!!I live in Beulah too,and we had to get rid of the chicken’s we had because of a Jerk that lives behind us,did nothing but cuss at us, yell at us and called Code Enforcement out several times and we were threatened with a 1000.00 fine if we did not get rid of the chicken’s All the trouble we have had in this county it makes me wonder how any thing gets down. Well I guess it dosen’t because this County is screwed up. We have a bunch of good ole boys in the county. I wonder if there is corruption in the County????HMMM.
Reading some of these comments just makes me laugh and shake my head.
@huh, why exactly is it common sense to not allow chickens? Because they are loud? This is funny. Chickens are not loud…There are 5 dogs on our block (including 2 of ours) that make more noise than our chickens. Neighborhood cat fights make more noise than our chickens. Cars driving by on our street make more noise than our chickens. Noise is not a common sense reason to ban chickens. You might be thinking about roosters…chickens do not cock-a-doodle-doo….roosters do.
@BentStraight…this really made me laugh! Passing a chicken ordinance is not a liberal/conservative issue. You stated, “the current liberal mindset is: as long as the chicken is not “fried” they don’t pose a hazard”. What does this even mean? Are you saying liberals are more concerned about health? Are you saying un-fried chickens are hazardous? I don’t even know why I am replying to this.
The thing that concerns me the most, is the projected cost to enforce the code. $300,000-$400,000. What? Why would you need 3 more people and 3 more vehicles? I don’t understand this. Chickens are not dangerous…you can actually pick one up, stick it in a dog crate and put it in the back of a pickup truck or mini-van.
It would be interesting to find out how many calls have been made in the city over the years. I have chickens in the city, I know MANY people who have chickens. Can’t really think of too many problems that have come up in the past 8 years that we have had them. I don’t know…maybe I am missing something…maybe that figure is correct, I am leery though.
Do you *really* think that it will cost nearly a half million dollars to change the ordinance to loosen chicken regulations? How on Earth are they managing it in the City of Pensacola where chickens are legal in residential areas?? Animal control just doesn’t want to deal with the slightest possibility of an increased workload so they are presenting greatly bloated numbers to make sure any changes are shut down!
Good thing the county commish backed out of this.
Would have led to wide spread problems in county
and city as county hens flooded Brownsville in search
of a few good roosters.
Commish, keep your hands off my chicken.
(sarcastic) Now is the time to take a stand against chickens running wild in our county! Chickens pose a real threat to our way of life and must be dealt with swiftly.
Glad to see that a sensible decision was made regarding this. It is not worth $300k to $400k of tax payer money to manage chickens.
I wonder if the county commissioners read NE.com? If they do they might see how silly and wasteful this chicken regulation vote has made them look! Remember this foolishness when it comes time to vote. Let’s all talk to Mr Barry at the townhall meeting at the new Molino Community Center on Feb. 25! Maybe he can shed some light on this issue.
I have Two chickens and live in the city limits on a .25 acre………. wow what a concern I am….. Neighbors love it, I got their permission first.
Should be no sort of farm animals in the city limits. Thats just commonsense and being nice to your neighbors that don’t want to hear your chickens
@ Mike, To funny….. Sounds like some elective’s have to much time on their hands. I guess they are trying to Look busy. Now district 5 just was voted in. So we will have to wait and see. They need to look at everybodies needs in the whole County and not just a selective few……………..Let me help you……JOBS…JOBS………JOBS.
The current liberal mindset is: As long as the chicken is not “fried” they don’t pose a hazard.
something to crow about
Commissioners should consider putting a tax on roosters to help support ECAT,
@ Russell
There may be laws about having your chicken in your hand!!!
Commissioners, you can have my chickens when you pry them from my cold dead hands.
Chickens at Gee Willie’s should learn to look both ways before crossing!
thank you, mr berry, for taking the time to go down and investigate the (1) complaint of a problem chicken(s)…..i have chickens, so this subject is near and dear to me, as well- so glad that sanity prevailed!…btw, the national poultry improvement program (NPIP), which is run by the dept of agriculture, will have an agent come to your residence (free of charge) and test your chicken flock for the presence of pylorium- you just have to contact them and make an appointment…theoretically, they test only 10% of your flock- if your flock is free and clear of pylorium, you will get a certification- which will allow you to enter your chickens at the fair or swap meets…personally, i sell my fertile eggs on EBAY, whereby having a current NPIP cert. makes them more desirable..
If the transplants cannot handle the poultry, let them return to where they belong.
County Commissioners should focus on re-election and nest feathering, as they always have.
Very punny. Think I’ll go buy a chicken…. wait, homeowners Asc. won’t allow it. Oh well….
Well stated, Kim! It seems that the goal of most politicians, these days, is to look for ways to restrict our freedom. This country if falling, falling, falling…………..
I just so totally agree with Kim!.well done.
It is vey wise for the county to stay out the chicken regulating business. I am very tired of being told what I can not do on my own property. For example I just found out that my roof needs repairs. I will need to pull a permit, the county tells me what materials I can use ( 26 guage metal instead of 29 which is more expensive) and I have a time limit on the work that can be done.I live in a north escambia, non restricted neighborhood, on 5 acres. How can my roof repairs effect my neighbors or the county. How did this law get past us and now l can’t believe there is even discussion on regulating chickens. This is still the home of the Brave, but the land of the free? I don’t think so. I know chickens doesn’t seem like a big deal, but every politian that votes away my freedoms will not get my vote. Wake up we are voting away our freedom.
So they are saying that chickens haven’t caused any problems in the city limits, but they still won’t allow it in the residential areas of the county? That makes no sense!
No one was ever trying to make it harder for people in the country to own chickens. The point was to try to make it easier for everyone in the county to have chickens regardless of what they are zoned.
@ Beulah- Remember who you are talking about. These are the brainiacs (that we elected!) who regulated how often we have to have our septic systems inspected! I STILL cant believe that passed.
@Jane- Artificial insemination? LOL? Gotta love em. At least it didnt happen.
We really gotta think about who we are putting into these positions.
Are you kidding me? Do we want to outlaw farming in Escambia County? The time it took to figure out the costs of this project demonstrates a waste in government spending. Let’s remember this type of governing when it comes to voting. Who proposed it? Please step forward. No one will do that but how did it get considered then? What a waste! Worse than stepping in behind a chicken!
And how pray tell will the farmers who have chickens maintain/sell or raise chickens with no roosters? This is what our tax dollars are being wasted on? Are we actually paying these people to discuss a chicken ordinance? In the county? Really????? I seriously doubt we have a “chicken disturbance” out here!!!