By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson City Council adopted new regulations for chickens in the city as part of the larger update to the city's zoning regulations at their meeting on Tuesday.
Below is the new text of Section 27-919 as proposed to the council.
The Keeping of Chickens shall be permitted as an accessory use to any principal lawful use in the R-2, R-3, R-4, R-5, R-6 and MH districts provided that:
A. A maximum of 8 chickens may be kept in the side or rear yard only on any zoning lot listed above. For rear yards over 2,000 sq. ft. 1 additional chicken may be kept for each additional 250 sq.ft. up to a maximum of 20 chickens.
B. All chickens must be kept within a fenced part of a yard and provided with appropriate shelter. All chicken coops, hen houses and other structures used to house chickens must be kept neat in appearance and in sanitary condition.
C. All chicken coops, hen houses and other structures used to house chickens must be set back a minimum of 10 feet from side lots, 5 feet from rear lot line and 20 feet from any adjacent residential dwelling, church, school or business that is outside of the owner’s property lines and shall not project closer to the front or side street than the principal structure.
D. No Roosters shall be kept.
E. No public slaughtering or processing of chickens allowed.
F. Nothing in this section shall be construed to apply to zoos, animal exhibits, veterinarian services, pet stores or the State Fairgrounds.
G. Anyone keeping chickens improperly and found to allow chickens to run from their property and damage the property of their neighbors will be subject to action pursuant to Chapter 7 of the City Code.
Staff is going to take an additional look at specifically the TA and R-1 districts to decide how best to handle those, as especially the TA district is more agricultural in nature, but there was a lot of public input on the issue.
"We had a gentleman who was a proficient winner of chicken raising categories one evening," Seitnater said. "He brought a whole new perspective to things. It wasn't an overwhelming amount of public input, but those that were interested tended to come. We probably had ten to a dozen different people speak over the course of the meetings."
The regulations were passed unanimously.