Town Meeting Will Have Something to Cluck About

Why did the hen cross the road? Because she wasn't allowed at her North Andover home.

But that might change at Town Meeting.

Article 28 on the warrant seeks to change zoning by-law to allow more hens in your back yard, should you choose to have them.

Current by-law allows a home with at least three acres to keep one hen per acre on their lot. Article 28 seeks to allow single-family homes with less than three acres to keep a maximum of six hens and single-family homes with more than three acres to keep three hens per acre.

The article was submitted by Hillary Stasonis.

"My husband and I looked into getting chickens last summer, since we have two young children, we figured it would be a great way to help them learn about where food comes from," Stasonis said. "But when we read over the zoning by-laws it wasn't clear if we would be allowed chickens or not... so we called the zoning enforcement officer, and he informed us that we could not, because we only have 1.5 acres. It seemed silly that an animal as small as a chicken was treated the same as any other agricultural animal, like a cow or horse, even though they are much smaller and require much less space."

Other nearby towns, including Ipswich and Billerica, have passed by-laws easing chicken restrictions, so Stasonis decided to give it a shot in North Andover.

So she started a website and Facebook page and posted fliers, to see how much interest there would be in allowing more chickens in town.

"Before long, I had heard from 25 people who had either 1) had chickens, but were made to get rid of them or 2) wanted chickens, but wanted to do it 'legally,'" Stasonis said. "The more I talked to people, the more I realized there was too much ambiguity in the way the by-law was written, and it wasn't really enforced in a consistent manner. Some people were allowed to keep their chickens because they were "pets" with names, and others were made to get rid of them."

Roosters would not be allowed, because they make so much noise.

There is a trend nationwide toward keeping chickens in yards, for sustainable food source. Six chickens generally produce an average of four eggs per day.

The Board of Selectmen voted for favorable action on the "chicken article" Monday night, 4-1. Selectman Don Stewart was the one "no" vote.

Town Meeting will be held May 21 at North Andover High School.

TELL US: What do you think? Should the town allow more chickens to be kept in people's yards? Discuss in the comments below. And please, keep the clucking to a minimum.