The chickens and bees on Chestnut Street in Westbrook are still in limbo after the Committee of the Whole considered ordinance changes to allow the animals to stay under certain guidelines.
The committee approved of the guidelines for keeping chickens and bees, which include minimum lot sizes and standards of practice to reduce noise and odor. However, guidelines were written up for only those two animals because of complaints the city received about two specific residences that were keeping them. The committee remained concerned that by permitting chickens and bees, other farm animals, like horses or goats, would be prohibited unless specific guidelines were written out for them – what councilors thought would be a tedious process.
“It seems an incredibly inefficient way to do this,” said Council President Brendan Rielly, who thought that making the changes to regulate the keeping of farm animals in residential zones “was an unnecessary process” altogether that could have been handled by city staff.
The council has been dealing with the ordinance changes for over a year – since two complaints were made against Chestnut Street residents, one who kept chickens and one who kept bees. Before the two complaints, ordinances didn’t include language saying what kinds of animals could be kept in residential zones. The ordinances did allow for “ancillary uses” in residential zones, but the Zoning Board of Appeals determined that keeping chickens and bees was not an ancillary use.
The committee discussed changing the definition of ancillary use to include farm animals. However, it would still be left to determine which animals would be allowed and under what guidelines.
The committee voted 5-0 to refer the ordinance changes to the City Council, which will next meet on Jan. 28 at 7 p.m.
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