Chestnut Street resident Bob Ledoux has kept chickens as pets for the last 10 years. He’s disabled and can’t work, so having the chickens keeps him busy.

“For me, I could watch chickens all day long,” said Ledoux. “It’s very calming.”

Unfortunately for Ledoux, he’ll soon have to trade his chickents in for a pet that’s more acceptable to the city, which has asked him to get rid of them after a neighbor complained that they were too noisy.

Other Westbrook residents who keep chickens or rabbits or other farm animals as pets in residential areas may soon have to get rid of their pets as well. The city is looking to add language to its ordinances making farm animals illegal in residential zones.

Ledoux said the chickens haven’t been a problem until now, and he’s disappointed about having to get rid of his feathered friends.

“Why does someone care?” he asked. “No one did for 10 years. I just don’t think it’s fair.”

Westbrook City Administrator Jerre Bryant said it wasn’t a problem for the city, either, until someone complained. That’s why the city doesn’t already have language in its ordinance addressing farm animals.

The city’s ordinance doesn’t spell out what animals are allowed in residential zones, but the city administration has made a referral to the council to take a look at adding that language. Affected animals could include chickens, goats, rabbits, ferrets, bees and even pot-belly pigs.

“The code needs language about animals,” said Assistant Code Enforcement Officer Diana Brown. “And it needs something saying what’s a farm animal” and what’s not a farm animal.

Other communities in the area do not allow farm animals in most residential zones, including South Portland and Scarborough. Farm animals are generally considered non-domesticated animals, although some argue even traditional farm animals, like chickens, can be domesticated.

For Ledoux, it means getting rid of pets he’s had for more than a decade and a hobby that was important to him. “It’s something I’ll have to replace with something else,” he said.

Ledoux was originally given a violation by Brown for violating the city’s ordinance regarding farming. The city zoning board of appeals decided he was not in violation of the farming language because his chickens were pets and not for commercial use. However, the board decided raising chickens is not an acceptable practice in a residential zone because it is not considered an appropriate “accessory use” at the home.

“I can’t make a reasonable relation between the primary use of raising a family and living” in a home and raising chickens, said Joyce Hebert, chairwoman. Raising farm animals isn’t a long-standing practice and is not common in residential zones, she added.

According to Ledoux, he’s kept eight or nine chickens regularly for over 10 years and had no complaints about them before. His neighbor told the city the chickens had made noise in the middle of the night on a couple of occasions earlier in the summer.

Ledoux said he thought an animal from his neighbor’s yard had gotten into his yard and upset the chickens, which made a ruckus. Ledoux said he couldn’t remember that ever happening before, and he doesn’t feel he should have to get rid of his chickens.

Donna Leclair, who lives down the street from Ledoux, agreed with him, saying she thought having the chickens was a unique experience for the neighborhood. She said the kids would visit the chickens and get a chance to learn about farm animals, which they wouldn’t get the chance to do otherwise, not living near a farm.

“I don’t think he should have to get rid of them,” said Leclair. “I don’t think they’re hurting anybody.”

Ledoux said some of the kids in the neighborhood had taken to tending their favorite chickens over the years, and he doesn’t believe they’re a nuisance to the neighborhood. To the contrary, he said he’s worked hard to see that they’re not.

The chickens are housed in a fenced pen with access to a wooden structure to lay their eggs, which Ledoux collects every day. Some of the eggs he gives to neighbors, along with the chicken droppings, which he said neighbors take for fertilizer for gardens. The pen is clean with no smell, and the chickens are quiet unless agitated. Ledoux said they usually sleep from sunset until sunrise. He doesn’t keep roosters because they crow.

By comparison, according to city code, if Ledoux’s chickens were dogs, the pen would be considered a kennel and, therefore, against the code. Westbrook residents are allowed a maximum of three dogs. No other animals are covered in the code, according to Brown.

Whether the chickens are a nuisance is irrelevant, however, because the city zoning board of appeals has already made a decision. And since its decision, the city has received more complaints about other residents with farm animals as pets.

Jess Corriveau, who saw the appeals board meeting, thinks Ledoux shouldn’t have to get rid of his chickens, and sees the city’s decision as a change in times. “It was tradition up until recently that people had chickens,” she said.

Zoning board of appeals member Stevan Morrow said he wished the issue hadn’t come to the board, but had been resolved between neighbors. Instead, he and his board members were forced to make a decision where gray area exists in the ordinances – in this case, no clear language stating whether Ledoux’s chickens were illegal.

“It’s sad this is the way America is going. We’re losing the neighborhood,” said Morrow. “I feel like Westbrook is losing its small-town approach to things.”

For Ledoux, he thinks the whole thing is a mountain made out of a molehill. And he’s not the only one who’ll be disappointed to see the chickens go. He said he’s sure the kids in the neighborhood will miss their friends. But, he said, he’s a law-abiding citizen, and he’ll follow the city’s wishes.

As for the chickens, Ledoux is sure they’ll be OK. He said he knows plenty of farms that would take them in and give them a good home.

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