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On Oct. 26 at 9 a.m., the Local Planning Agency will hold a meeting to discuss Land Development Code amendments that would allow the keeping and raising of chickens in residential parts of Lee County including Lehigh Acres. The meeting is open to the public and will be held in Room 118 of the Admin East building, at 2201 Second St. in Fort Myers.

During the meeting, LPA members will consider the code revisions and decide whether the changes are consistent with Lee County’s comprehensive plan before scheduling the amendments to be considered by the Lee County Board of County Commissioners.

Staff drafted the Development Code Amendments concerning backyard chickens in response to the direction from the county commissioners.

In a June Lee County Board of County Commissioners’ meeting, Commission Chair Brian Hamman stunned backyard chicken supporters when he suggested having staff research and draft an ordinance to allow chickens. Hamman said he had spoken with the mayors of the incorporated cities of Fort Myers and Bonita Springs which, for several years, have allowed “backyard chickens.”

Heather Scutakes, organizer of Backyard Chickens for Lee County, will be one of approximately a hundred residents who plan to speak before the LPA in support of allowing the raising of backyard hens in certain areas of Lee County.

As of Oct. 18, the group has built 2,206 followers on its Facebook page and their petition has reached more than 4,061 online signatures.

“I live in an unincorporated part of Lee County, right next to Fort Myers. A big part of why I pushed this movement is because I thought they were legal here since they’ve been allowed in the city limits of Fort Myers. The city started it back in 2011 as a trial run and never had any problems, so they wrote it into the land use code,” Scutakes explained.

Scutakes questions why a city could make provisions to allow backyard hens but not an unincorporated area.

“Why are hens allowed in the more populated areas of the county but not in unincorporated areas that tend to have larger lots and are less populated? I’m also for the educational aspect. I homeschool my son and would like the opportunity to teach him how to raise and take care of them,” Scutakes said. “I feel that if they had ordinances to control the raising of backyard chickens, it would help keep owners compliant, plus within this ordinance, it would be prohibited to sell eggs or chickens.”

So far, Scutakes has found 32 counties in Florida which have already set up specified ordinances for backyard chickens in residential areas.

“Many of the larger cities created ordinances to preserve the way of life that they were use (to). Four counties, including Miami-Dade, are looking into creating their own ordinances. Charlotte has one more public hearing before their ordinance goes into effect,” Scutakes said.

LDC Amendments, Backyard Chickens (Noncommercial Poultry Raising in Residential Areas) to be heard on October 26 include:

• Amendments to LDC Section 34-1294, to establish regulations for the keeping and raising of chickens as an accessory use in the RS-1, RS-2, RS-3, RS-4, RS-5, and MH-4 zoning districts.

The amendments include the following regulations:

• Keeping of chickens is limited to hens only. No roosters are permitted.

• Chickens may be kept for personal use only.

• Chickens may not be slaughtered on premises.

• The number of chickens is limited to four (4) for lots under one acre in size. The number of chickens is limited to six (6) for lots one acre in size or greater.

• The lot must: * Have an established residential use; * Comply with the minimum lot size requirements for the zoning district;

• The chickens must be contained in a coop with an outdoor run area no greater than 120 square feet in size and no greater than eight feet in height. The coop and run area must be located in the rear yard area and must provide a minimum setback of 15 feet from adjacent property lines. If the property is located adjacent to a waterbody, the minimum setback is 25 feet (natural) or 10 feet (man-made);

• The lot must have continuous visual screening, a minimum of six feet in height, around the side and rear lot lines.

The amendments further establish the submittal requirements for obtaining a permit to keep and raise chickens, including proof that the applicant has completed a class for the proper care of chickens through the University of Florida agricultural extension service.

Following the LPA meeting, there will be another chance for public input at the Executive Regulatory Oversight Committee who will weigh-in on the code revisions at their meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 4, at 2 p.m.

Executive Regulatory meetings are normally held in the first floor conference room of the County’s Community Development/Public Works building, but the county is considering a change of venue to accommodate the committee and members of the public.

Earlier in the month, the Land Development Code Advisory Committee met on Oct. 9 to discuss the draft Land Development Code changes related to backyard chickens and recommended against it to the Board.

“Unfortunately our group was not able to be at this meeting, because they changed the venue for the Land Development Code Advisory Committee meeting at the last minute. We were not aware, so none of us had the chance to speak on the subject. The committee only had emails from the opposition,” said Chuck Edwards, a Lehigh resident also in favor of backyard hens.

Residents opposed include Ruth Anglickis, COO at Landex Resorts Int., a long-time Lehigh resident who is concerned about what the new ordinances to allow backyard chickens will do to the community.

“As a resident of Lehigh Acres for 53 years, I for one, do not want to see chickens in the backyards in Lehigh Acres. Our community is no longer a Rural Area,” Anglickis said. “It’s not in the best interest of the 110,000 plus, residents of Lehigh Acres, commercial enterprise, new building, changing land law, plus the added burden to code enforcement and diseases that chickens can carry and spread.”

Anglickis and those opposed worry that the ordinance changes could also decrease property values if allowed in residential neighborhoods and on how the county will monitor the new ordinances.

“How is the county going to monitor rules and regulations as to how many chickens you can have, if roosters are allowed, cleanliness, types of coops, sales of eggs and chickens that are not controlled by the Health Department, noise, smell, waste control, etc.,” Anglickis said.

The draft ordinance still must go to several committees before going before the county commissioners, which means opportunities for public input and comment.

After the committee review process is complete, the matter will be scheduled for consideration by the Board of County Commissioners.

For more information visit: https://www.leegov.com/dcd/zoning/LDC