By Rebecca Sponsler
Advocate News Staff
At the Sept. 12 meeting of the Greenville City Council, a lengthy discussion was had on an ordinance regulating the number of chickens a person could have at their home within the city limits. The council approved the ordinance with three amendments.
The ordinance sets forth a rule that all chicken owners must purchase a permit with the city; the purchase is one time only and is $25. Persons who are thinking about or going to purchase chickens may not have more than 10. If someone has more than 10 chickens before the ordinance went into effect, they will be allowed to keep their chickens. However, once the flock gets down to 10, it may not go larger than that.
Any new chicken coops that are built must be a minimum of 15 feet from the property line and residential structure, 25 feet from any neighboring business or structure, and at least 5 feet from a public alley. The coop must have at least 4 square feet of space per chicken, not to exceed 40 square feet. If you have bantam chickens then you will only need 2 square feet of space per bantam chicken.
If you already have chickens, and the coop does not meet the setback requirements you will be grandfathered into the ordinance, and will not have to change your coop. For more information see the September 15, 2023 edition of The Greenville Advocate.
Photo By Rebecca Sponsler
