Fences Make Good Neighbors; Roosters Don't

Mark and Linda Hardy don’t need an alarm clock to wake them up on any morning of the week. However, they’d prefer to use one, rather than being awakened by a rooster crowing anywhere between 4 and 5 a.m. on practically daily basis.

The couple, residents of Berkshire Valley Road, came before the Jefferson Township council last week to ask for help in dealing with neighbors who own approximately 30 chickens and a few roosters.

Mark Hardy explained that he and his wife have tried talking to the neighbors about the noise, but that is no longer feasible.

“They have their way of doing things, and the rest of us have our way,” Mark Hardy said.

They said that the noise wasn’t as much of a problem in the winter when windows were closed, but now, with nicer weather coming, “we are at the point of not knowing what to do,” Mark Hardy said.

“To have roosters crowing all day is just insanity,” Linda Hardy said.

The Hardys asked that council look into the possibility of a zoning ordinance violation for running a farm in a residential area, which the council agreed to do.

“What I intend to do is have a notice sent out to them giving them five days to get rid of the roosters,” said business administrator James Leach. “If they don’t comply, they will be issued a summons,” he continued. “Then it becomes an issue of rite of due process. The Board of Adjustment will issue a variance, or make an interpretation of the zoning ordinance, so it may take a little while, but something will be done.”

Leach added that in the past, judges have ordered people to get rid of roosters.

Council vice president Bob Birmingham added that the town has a noise ordinance in place.

“You shouldn’t have to deal with noise like that,” he said.