Mahwah Resident Takes a Stand, Goes to Court Over Chickens

Sharon Racioppi is not backing down.

The Mahwah resident has been at odds with the Mahwah Health Department and Tyco Animal Control since last year over her chickens.

It all began when Racioppi was looking to adopt a “potentially dangerous dog” but needed animal control to first look at the pen on her property.

That’s when Racioppi said the officials walked all over her 3.488 acres without her permission and began asking about her chicken coop.

Tyco Animal Control’s Carol Tyler says she was instructed by Racioppi’s attorney to “find a location” for the dog on her property and while there, heard chickens. Although she said “that’s not what I’m here for,” Tyler did make a note of it on her sheet because, as she said, she is supposed to.

“It’s not my job to issue a complaint,” Tyler said, but she did note that she passed along the information.

Racioppi says she was then told she needed a permit to house the hens, so she asked the Health Department to mail an application to her. But when she never received the application, Racioppi assumed the Health Department said it was “no big deal” until Health Department Inspector Dan Maas called in October to say she still needed a permit.

However, Racioppi says the zoning officer “decided on his own” that she actually needed a variance, claiming “the property is being used for agricultural purposes,” though Racioppi does not sell her hens’ eggs to the public.

Although Tyler said Racioppi “can solve this whole thing by getting a ... variance,” Racioppi disagrees.

“I don’t need to apply for a variance [because I’m not agricultural],” Racioppi said. “This is about applying force when they don’t need to.”

“This is also about money,” she said.

But according to Tyler, Mahwah has ordinances that require a resident have at least 5 acres to keep livestock that are not domestic. Racioppi has 3.488.

Things have gotten even worse when according to Racciopi, officials from the Health Department and Tyco trespassed to take pictures of her property while Racioppi’s car was in the garage.

Rico, Racioppi’s protective Rottweiler, alerted his owner who approached the officials and says she was antagonized by Tyler - though Tyler denies these claims.

“I cant live like that, that someone can come on my property,” Racioppi says.

But Angela Musella, a Health Department official that spoke on behalf of Dan Maas, says the department does “have authority to investigate” and go on someone’s property.

As for Tyler, she said that she was at Racioppi’s home at the request of the Mahwah Health Department, who wanted animal control there in case they ran into any dangerous animals while taking pictures of Racioppi’s property for an investigation.

There was “nothing devious there,” Tyler told Patch. ”I’ve been doing this for thirty years - it’s nothing personal.”

Tyler also says that she stayed on the street and did not step foot onto Racioppi’s property, though Racioppi says the street is in fact part of her Deerhaven Road property and does not belong to the Township.

But this isn’t all about the chickens.

Racioppi has warned the officials that they may get mauled by her protective guard dog, Rico, who roams the land freely, which is part of the reason why she does not want Tyco or Health Department officials to trespass.

Now, Racioppi has lawyered up and will fight the charges after being issued a summons for harboring chickens without a permit and for allegedly being threatened with fines for reaching out to Patch - though Musella, who acknowledges she was not present when the alleged threat was made, said that the Health Department has never issued a summons for talking to the media in the 31 years she has been there.

Still, Racioppi, who started her own page documenting her journey, is determined.

“People give up on things,” Racioppi said. “I’m not.”

Pictured: Rico the guard dog guarding his flock and property.

Related:

Letter from Mahwah Resident: ‘I Am Being Harassed’ About Her Livestock