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HomeMy WebLinkAboutG59-14 Ordinance No. G59-14 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 7 OF THE ELGIN MUNICIPAL CODE, 1976, AS AMENDED, ENTITLED "ANIMALS" TO PROVIDE FOR A NEW CHAPTER FOR THE KEEPING OF CHICKENS WITHIN THE CITY OF ELGIN WHEREAS, the City of Elgin is a home rule unit and as a home rule unit may exercise any power and perform any function pertaining to its government and affairs; and WHEREAS, the city council of the City of Elgin has determined that it is appropriate to allow for the keeping of chickens within the City of Elgin; and WHEREAS, the keeping of chickens within the City of Elgin and regulations pertaining thereto involve public health and pertain to the government affairs of the City of Elgin. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ELGIN, ILLINOIS: Section 1. That Title 7 of the Elgin Municipal Code, 1976, as amended, entitled "Animals" be and is hereby amended by adding a new chapter 7.08 thereto entitled "Keeping of Chickens" to read as follows: "CHAPTER 7.08 KEEPING OF CHICKENS 7.08.010: DEFINITIONS: Whenever the following words or phrases are used, they shall, for the purposes of this chapter, have the meaning ascribed to them in this section, except when the context otherwise indicates: COOP: A structure housing hens consisting of a covered inside enclosure. HEN: The female of the species Gallus gallus domesticus, commonly known as chickens. PEN: An enclosure connected to a coop for the purposes of allowing chickens to leave the coop while remaining in an enclosed, predator safe environment. 7.08.020: LIMIT TO NUMBER OF HENS PERMITTED: No person shall keep more than four (4) hens. Roosters shall be prohibited. 7.08.030: CONFINEMENT: All hens kept in the city shall be entirely confined in a pen, coop, building, or other enclosure at all times. During daylight hours hens may also be temporarily kept in a mobile screened enclosure commonly known as a chicken tractor. Such chicken tractors shall be located only in a rear yard in accordance with the structures-location restrictions provided for in this chapter. 7.08.040: STRUCTURES-LOCATION RESTRICTIONS: Structures housing hens including any pens, coops, buildings or enclosures shall be permitted only in conjunction with a single-family detached dwelling located in a residence or residence conservation zoning district. Structures housing hens including any pens, coops, buildings or enclosures shall be located only in a rear yard, erected or maintained at least twenty-five (25) feet from any occupied residential structure other than that of the owner, setback at least six (6) feet from all property lines of an adjacent property and shall not be visible from a street. 7.08.050: STRUCTURES-REQUIREMENTS: Structures housing hens shall consist of a covered inside enclosure known as a coop and an adjacent covered outside fenced area known as a pen. Structures housing hens shall provide not less than ten (10) square feet per hen with coop size limited to not more than fifty (50) square feet and pen enclosures limited to not more than one hundred (100) square feet. Coops shall be constructed to specifications as approved by the Community Development Director and must be placed either above ground or on a hard surface such as concrete, patio block or gravel and able to withstand natural forces such as wind, rain and snow. Wooden or pre-cast concrete posts shall be acceptable foundations if they are placed at least twenty-four inches into the ground and firmly tamped with dirt or gravel. Any structure housing hens including any pen, coop, building or other enclosure that is not fully enclosed shall be screened to a height of six (6) feet. Said screening shall be comprised of fences or walls six (6) feet in height. 7.08.060: MAINTENANCE OF SANITARY CONDITIONS: All pens, coops, buildings, yards or enclosures for hens shall be kept clean, sanitary and free from all refuse and waste. Such areas shall be thoroughly cleaned at least once every twenty-four (24) hours and all refuse and chicken waste shall be disposed of in a clean and sanitary fashion. 7.08.070: MISCELLANEOUS REGULATIONS: A. All feed for hens shall be kept in rodent proof containers until put out for consumption by the permitted hens being kept. B. Slaughtering of chickens is prohibited. 2 C. Odors from chickens, chicken manure or other chicken related substances shall not be perceptible at the property boundaries of the property where the chickens are kept, and it is hereby declared a nuisance and shall be unlawful for any person to allow such nuisance to exist. D. No person shall allow chickens to provide noise loud enough to annoy or disturb the comfort, health, peace or repose of reasonable persons of ordinary sensibilities, and it is hereby declared a nuisance and shall be unlawful for any person to allow such nuisance to exist. 7.08.080: LICENSE AND PERMIT REQUIRED: No person shall keep chickens within the city without first obtaining a license therefore issued by the city. Any pen, coop, building or other enclosure used for the housing of hens may be erected only after obtaining a building permit as provided for herein. 7.08.090: LICENSE PERMIT PROCESS: A. An applicant for a license for the keeping chickens or for a building permit for any pen, coop, building or other enclosure used for the housing of chickens must submit the following to the Community Development Director: 1. Completed applications on forms provided by the city. 2. A current plat of survey accurately depicting the potential location of the proposed structure housing hens on the applicant's property. 3. The required license fee for a license for the keeping of chickens in the amount of $30.00 and the required building permit fee. The building permit fee for a pen, coop, building or other enclosure used for the housing of chickens shall be the same fee as for a shed. B. A license for the keeping of chickens and a building permit for a structure for the keeping of chickens shall not be granted unless the applicant can show proof that a proposed structure that complies with all provisions of this Chapter will be erected. C. A license for the keeping of chickens and a building permit for a structure for the keeping of chickens shall not be transferable or run with the land and shall terminate and become invalid upon the licensee no longer occupying the property for which the license and permit were issued. D. The city will begin accepting applications for a license for the keeping of chickens and for a building permit for any pen, coop, building or other enclosure used for the housing of chickens beginning January 1, 2015. In the event applications for such a license and permit received by the city between January 1, 3 2015 and January 15, 2015, exceed fifteen (15) in number a lottery will be used to determine the order such applications will be considered by the city. 7.08.100: SUSPENSION OR REVOCATION: In addition to any other penalty which may be authorized by this chapter or other city ordinances, the community development director may suspend or revoke any license issued pursuant to this chapter for: A. Failure of the licensee to comply with any provisions of this chapter, any other applicable ordinances, the laws of the state, federal laws or other applicable legal requirements; or B. Finding that the licensee knowingly furnished false or misleading information or withheld relevant information in any application for a license for the keeping of chickens or for a building permit for any structure for the keeping of chickens. 7.08.110: SUMMARY SUSPENSION: Where the community development director presents to the city manager sufficient evidence demonstrating probable cause to believe that the licensee has violated the provisions of this chapter or the laws of the United States or the State, and that said violation will immediately threaten the public health, safety or welfare, the city manager may, upon the issuance of a written order stating the reason for such conclusion, and without prior notice or hearing, order the licensed structure for the keeping of chickens closed and the license summarily suspended pending a public hearing and a determination on suspension or revocation. Such hearing shall be commenced not more than seven (7) days following the entry of such an order, unless the licensee shall agree to a longer period of time. The procedure for such a hearing or any appeal with respect thereto shall be as otherwise provided in this chapter. Upon entry of an order of summary suspension, the licensee shall be served with a copy of the order and notice of violation and a hearing in the manner provided by this chapter. 7.08.120: NOTICE OF HEARING: Except as provided in Section 7.08.110 of this chapter, prior to suspension or revocation of a license under this chapter, the licensee shall be notified in writing of the nature of the violation(s) and an opportunity for a hearing which will be provided if a written request for a hearing is filed with the community development director by the holder of the license within ten (10) days. If a written request is filed within ten (10) days, a hearing date shall be set within ten (10) days of receipt of the request. If no written request for a hearing is filed within ten (10) days, the suspension or revocation shall be sustained. 4 7.08.130: HEARINGS: As provided in this chapter, a hearing shall be conducted by the community development director or his designee affording the licensee an opportunity to appear and defend the charges. The community development director shall make a final decision in writing, including the reasons for such decision, and shall serve such decision on the licensee within ten(10) days after the conclusion of the hearing. 7.08.140: APPEALS: A. Any person aggrieved by the action or decision of the city's community development director to deny, suspend or revoke a license applied for or issued under the provisions of this chapter shall have the right to appeal such action or decision to the city manager within ten (10) days after the notice of action or decision has been mailed to the licensee's address as shown on the license application form, or to the licensee's last known address. B. An appeal shall be taken by filing with the city's community development director a written statement setting forth the grounds for appeal. C. The city's community development director shall transmit the written statement to the city manager within ten (10) days of its receipt and the city manager will set a time and place for a hearing on the appeal. The city manager may designate an authorized representative to conduct such hearing. D. A hearing shall be set not later than twenty (20) days from the date of receipt of the appellant's written statement. E. Notice of the time and place for the hearing shall be given to the appellant in the same manner as provided for the mailing of notice of action decision. F. The city manager or the city manager's designee shall serve a decision on the licensee within ten (10) days after the conclusion of the hearing on such appeal. 7.08.150: REMOVAL OF STRUCTURES: Structures housing hens including any pens, coops, buildings or enclosures shall be removed upon a licensee no longer keeping chickens, upon a licensee no longer occupying the property for which a license for the keeping of chickens was issued or upon a licensee for the keeping of chickens having been revoked. 7.08.160: CONFLICT WITH PRIVATE COVENANTS: Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to permit the keeping of chickens when such activity is prohibited by private covenants, conditions or restrictions governing the use of property. 5 7.08.170: PENALTY FOR VIOLATION: A. Any person violating any of the provisions or failure to comply with any of the mandatory requirements of this chapter shall be guilty of an offense. Any person convicted of an offense under this chapter, in addition to other legal and equitable remedies available to the city, shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) no more than seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00). B. Any person shall be guilty of a separate offense for each and every day during any portion of which any violation or provision of this chapter is committed, continued or permitted by any such person, and such person shall be punished accordingly. C. Violation notices for violations of this chapter shall be issued, served, and resolved in accordance with the administrative adjudication of nonvehicular code violations system established pursuant to title 1, chapter 1.25 of this code, or if brought before a court of competent jurisdiction, pursuant to the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure, Illinois Supreme Court Rules, and such other rules that might apply to such court. 7.08.180: NUMBER OF LICENSES AND PERMITS TO BE ISSUED: The number of licenses authorizing the keeping of chickens shall not exceed fifteen (15) in number. The number of building permits issued in conjunction with structures housing hens including pens, coops, buildings or enclosures shall not exceed fifteen (15) in number. 7.08.190: ONE YEAR PILOT PROJECT: It is hereby declared to be the legislative intent of the city council that the adoption of this chapter and ordinance for the keeping of chickens in the city is being done on an experimental basis only and that no permitee who is granted a license for the keeping of chickens or a building permit for a structure for the keeping of chickens shall have any property interest, vested right or other continuing protectable interest in the continuation of a license for the keeping of chickens or for a building permit for a structure for the keeping of chickens. The city manager is directed to submit a report to the city council prior to December 31, 2015, and therein shall advise the city council as to the city's experience with the keeping of chickens and licenses and permits with respect thereto and recommend whether an ordinance providing for a continuation of the keeping of chickens should be recommended for adoption by the city council. 7.08.200: SEVERABILITY: If any provision, clause, sentence, paragraph, section or part of this chapter or application thereof to any person or circumstance, shall for any reason to be adjudged by a court of competent jurisdiction to be unconstitutional or invalid, said judgment shall not affect, 6 impair or invalidate the remainder of this chapter and the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances, but shall be confined in its operation to the provision, clause, sentence, paragraph, section or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall have been rendered and to the persons or circumstances involved. It is hereby declared to be the legislative intent of the city council that this chapter would have been adopted had such unconstitutional or invalid provisions, clause, sentence, paragraph, section or part thereof not been included." Section 2. That Section 7.04.240 of the Elgin Municipal Code, 1976, as amended, entitled "Keeping of Animals" be and is hereby further amended by amending subparagraph E thereof to read as follows: "E. It is unlawful to raise, keep, harbor, possess, maintain or have the care or custody of in the city any animal commonly considered a farm animal including, but not limited to, cows, horses, pigs or chickens, with the exception of chickens for which a license has been issued and which are kept and maintained in compliance with chapter 7.08 hereof." Section 3. That all ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict with the provisions of this ordinance be and are hereby repealed to the extent of any such conflict. Section 4. That this ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after January 1, 2015, upon its passage and publication in the manner provid by law. David J. Ka n, M or Presented: October 8, 2014 Passed: October 8, 2014 Vote: Yeas: 6 Nays: 3 Recorded: October 8, 2014 Published: October 10, 2014 Attest: x " Kimberly Dewis, City Clerk 7