Northport Petitioners Call For Changes In City's 'Chicken-Keeping' Ordinance

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Former teacher and Northport resident Kristy Oleary is a self-described "Chicken-Keepers Advocate" and sprung into action when she heard of a family that had been visited by animal control because of the chickens they kept in a treehouse-turned-coop in their backyard.

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"The family and kids seemed pretty heartbroken," she said. "I reached out to the neighbor and said let’s see if we can make some changes to this so we put our heads together and came up with the petition."

Oleary is one of a small but growing group of petitioners who are calling for the City of Northport to amend a specific ordinance relating to raising chickens on residential property within the city limits. She was quick to point out that she doesn't even own chickens, but is simply passionate about helping others learn the craft.

While the requested change would not extend to neighborhoods governed by home owners association charters, supporters argue it would make Northport, as a whole, a more welcoming and sustainable place to live.

The petition, which was organized by Jill Bender and aided by research from Oleary, is titled "City of Northport: Chicken Coops for the Soul" and has gained 176 signatures thus far.

As the petition points out, the current city code allows Northport citizens to raise chickens on their personal property, but only under the condition that the birds always be kept at least the length of a football field from another residence, park or place of business.

Click here to read the full petition and the requested changes

Oleary told Patch on Monday that the goal of the petition is to inspire the City Council to propose a code change based on the expressed desires of the electorate.

Patch can confirm the matter has not been discussed by the City Council or any of its advisory committees as it relates to the current requested changes and Oleary said the effort is still very much in its early phases. What's more, no formal conversations have been had between petitioners and city officials, as of the publication of this article.

"The ordinance is arbitrary," she said. "There is literally no reason to prohibit a few hens for personal and family egg production ... The change that we are requesting is one that would bring the city of Northport up-to-speed with other Alabama cities such as Auburn, Birmingham, Dothan, Huntsville, Jacksonville, Mobile, and Montgomery as well as other notable national cities such as Atlanta, Oklahoma City, Denver, Phoenix, Orlando, Lexington, Baton Rouge, Columbus, New York and literally hundreds of other cities across the nation."

To elaborate, the request would allow individuals to raise a limited number of chickens — hens only — in a clean and well-maintained enclosure that is not less than 50 feet from another dwelling, with a permit, and in accordance with outlined lot size parameters and other conditions.

"There have been other individual citizens in Northport who have approached city officials before and we're not able to make much headway," Oleary said. "The petition is just documentation that this isn’t just an individual thing- this is a couple hundred voters approaching city officials and asking them to consider a change. Northport wants to be forward thinking and innovative —here’s a shot at it."

While the next moves by the petitioners remain unclear, the most-likely starting point for any such measure to gain traction would be with the Northport Planning & Zoning Commission, which is the advisory board tasked with reviewing changes to city ordinances.

If a formal proposal for an amendment to an ordinance was taken up by Planning & Zoning, it would then be passed on for consideration by the full Council with a recommendation either in favor or opposed to the amendment.

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