Advisory Plan Commission - Regular Meeting

Um, it is time to call to order the U May 12th, 2025 advisory plan commission meeting. U would join me for the pledge of allegiance. Algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. All right, let's I'll do a roll call. Wayne Burgon here. Marty Clark here. Harold Goodlet is not present. Uh Brian Hester here. Daisy Lio here. John Palmer here. Okay, let the record show that we do have a quorum. Um, anybody everybody had a chance to look at the agenda? Okay, can I get a motion to approve the agenda? So move. Okay, got a motion. Got a second. All in favor say I. I. All right. I hasn't. Um, I'll look at the approval of minutes. Can I get a motion to approve the minutes? I'll make a motion. Okay, I got a motion made. I'll second. Second. All in favor say I. I. I. All right. Um, any public comments? No public comment. Looks like there is no old business to discuss. Uh, moving on to uh new business. uh open discussion about an explanation of the backyard chicken uh process. Yeah. The only thing I got for you guys tonight is uh going to discuss how we

are handling the major request for all the chickens for the sugar. Um if you look on here, we just passed out. You go back past minutes, you'll see we're have a letter addressing the process for backyard chicken. And what we're doing, we're using a variance instead of an ordinance. That gives us a better leeway in handling on each case because the variance was handed by an EA. But when you use a variance, you can add, subtract, do whatever you want to. Whereas an ordinance, pretty much whatever is written up is written up. And when it comes to something like chickens, you know, we need to be able to limit how many certain areas are going to be smaller yards, bigger yards. So we thought var using a variance would be the best way to go about it. So in looking over how some of the other people have handled it, I come up with the variance process. And uh it's pretty simple. And uh some people don't like it because it's you have to jump through the hoops. But if you really want to keep chickens, then you need to jump through some of the hoops. Uh you need to obtain a a copy of the youth variance application, which you'll see on here. Uh complete the application. It must be completed entirely. Failure to do so will result in a delay in the application. Uh return it to the office. Then I'll set up a meeting with them. we'll meet and discuss what exactly what they're trying to do to pay the $100 applica application fee for variance and then we'll set up the dates and have the variance hearing. Couple of things that uh I'd like for anytime this board

or the DCA handles something like this, there's some things we need to to consider. You know, one is the size of the property. You know, how many chickens we think we have? I've already had a request for 12 chickens and the lot, the backyard's no bigger than this. I went out and looked at it. Uh, no roosters. You know, the BJs, you know, they can say no roosters because that's what causes a lot of problems. the size of the pen, the size of the coupe, and uh I've got four foot for every one chicken is something that I recommend. And the pen, the run, that's the pin. And the distance away from the sidey yards, things like that. We when we ran a variance, we could put that all the variance, but as soon as the variance is approved or disapproved, I always send a letter, give a letter to them that states everything that was that the BCA gave it to them. Or when the plan commission does it, I state everything that plan commission does. Uh let's see. Can't see too much stuff. Oh yeah. Uh the one conversation I had with the guys he wanted a lot of chickens and I asked him you know why he said he want when I told him we couldn't probably vary said probably more around six and he said well he you can't make any money that way so he's wanting to run a business which we do not want because then you be it becomes a mess and why making them jump through so many hoops is because some people just think you just put a couple little chickens out there chicks and throw them raise them and let them run all over the place and then they forget about their kids have them and the kids forget about them and they grow up and they got chicken all over the place. So trying to do more uh track it more, you know, by permits.

So that's just something I want to let you guys know that we're doing. Good thing is a BZA gets gets to handle that part. Okay. So, they must um uh show a present a site plan, right? Site plan showing where the chicken coops going, the size cuz we don't want them throwing them right up against the fence. Somebody might have a real nice decorative fence and you got chicken crab all beside it. Yeah. Does HOA trump anything? We don't enforce Well, that's that's the other thing. Lady brought that up. That's the other thing I said. We don't enforce HOA or deed restrictions, but we can consider them when making a decision. Is that right, Terry? Yes. Because we're handling that another situation. But yeah, we always strongly consider them because uh you know, they signed up when they bought their house, that's what they bought. So, but we can force them, but we don't have to let them have chickens either. I've had quite a few calls asking me that. Got a few emails asking if they've had the HOA trumps that I had two or three. So hopefully the pre is no. Huh? Answer that is no. I can't say no. All I can say is we can consider it cuz they if if something happens and they say, you know, well like they do something else that they can't have like a fence or something and they say I'm going to put it up anyway and they have it in the HOA. They can come. They can't come to us and say, "Hey, we're not supposed to have fences out here. You guys need to do something about it. We can't enforce it." The only thing they can do is somebody from the HOA has to sue that person in the HOA. Okay. Yeah. But yeah, but I think the board would strongly consider if an HOA said no that they would have it

on your head about the HOA on the application. it asked if you have an HOA approved may have to have an approval letter from the HOA. So then you get situations like outcast springs where you got Bob in on one who really don't care about much and then a real HOA on the other one. So but that's why that's the one thing I was thinking about when I said well the board's going to be able to consider that anyway. No roosters allowed. No roosters. Now this this doesn't in agriculture areas they can still have them. We can't control how many they have or anything like that. We we don't have a a big agriculture area. We have an agriculture in Charleston. Mhm. Yep. Uh Christmas is some big house out there on Dairy Queen. section. Section all down through there a little bit down to right after we get to Bethany. Okay. I got a few questions I want to tell. Who's going to enforce the this somebody doesn't get the permit? They got chickens. Coal enforcement. Who's enforced? Cold enforcement. Yeah, code force will get it. And if they do enforce, is there a fine going to be a fine or I didn't see anything about that? that will be set by the BZA. We haven't done that yet. It' just be a violation of a the DZA. The fine would actually be you rather fix it or you lose your you lose your variance. I guess we're going to have it in that'll be in the contractor law, right? Is there any other cities or towns locally that have converted where we

used to where we don't have right now? No chickens in the city, right? Any other local towns that have gone and let us and if they have what's the outcome? Jeffersonville and there's quite a few. Yeah. Jeff, Clarksville, they all have chickens, but they have to get a a license permit, per se, but they have it by ordinance. uh Union City Indiana uh Winslow and Company the one that stole a lot of stuff from they all they all use the variance process. Have you talked to any of them have what is their opinion building? Are they having problems with it or not? You don't know. I don't know. I really ask I didn't never ask them that. I just ask them how they handle it. And if they do get the thing and they have chickens or say a lot of chickens, they got a lot of eggs. They're not supposed to sell them. That's correct. What if they give them away and somebody gives them a donation? That's nothing. That's more of a legal problem. Okay. I mean, that's could be I don't think there's really a mechanism by which to enforce it. I somebody on egg control, but I don't think he's gonna Well, I mean, it's just like a person who contacted what 60 or so chickens. Yeah. You have 60 chickens, you're a family is not going to eat 60 chicken eggs. Well, that's why I say we we we limit the number. If you got six chickens and you're giving away eggs, I bless your heart. Mhm. Yeah. I mean, yeah, I get as many eggs out of six. No, I mean cuz that's what my husband's been begging for years for stupid chickens and he wants six. He said six to eight and then it's because he probably eats 24 to 30 eggs a week. The other was

what was this going to bring up something where geese and ducks and others are going to be we go with the chickens or with they they they come in they can ask for that but your problem with geese and ducks is they they they do make a little bit more noise and they fly and they fly the chicken fly pretty good too. Yep. Yeah, the geese make make pretty good noise like the ones out there off of Oh, and like you, hi you. I have all kinds of ducks and geese and they make a mess of the road, my yard. Yeah, it's mostly just chickens because this is what everybody's been asking for. Do you know why the city of Charles Town enacted the code to not have chickens? No, this would be good cuz this is something I never heard before. Oh, what I mean it had to be part of the livestock thing that was enforced. You don't know when why they come up with that? I remember the one I was on the board. We come up the one know chickens, rabbits, ducks, geese, tigers. I was part of the council that did that. I didn't know if anything specific for chickens back then. Might have something to do with them though. They used to sleep in their kicking boots in here. Well, I I think you also dealt in here with if they slaughter them, right? I was read that part in there, too, which hopefully uh when they go out with son for Sunday chicken dinner, they don't go out. That's Winsow. The guy Winslow, he's the one that told me that. Yeah, because you got one guy that he they call him he dresses them for them. He just sits out there just so I said yeah I suggest you do like we did put something where you can't slaughter them doing the garage or

something but do you foresee it being a problem with the code enforcement? No, I don't really because I think the $100 and then everything they have to do is going to cut down on a lot of the, you know, people that just thinks they just throw some chickens out there. And at first, we'll probably have to, we probably had a lot of varian requests at first until they kind of get cut down. I suspect most of them will be stop when they come up and start talking to me and I start telling them, you know, hey, we're going to watch this. you got to have this and this and this, you know, and whatever else the BCA has for you. Cuz like I said, all I can do is recommend to the BCA what to look at. Give them an outline. I do think you're going to have problems with the roosters. Yeah, we have problem with roosters. And somebody buys a bunch of baby chicks, they don't know what they got. They don't know what they've got. And it's going to be hard to tell them what you going to do with that rooster. Throw it out. You. Yeah. Takes a lot of rooster in my lifetime. Charles, I guess if maybe you got something somebody to adopt them. Yeah, I could probably I know a couple will do it. You want to take them to him before? I don't take them. So, the uh fee, the $100 fee, is that submitting after the hearing or after? No, it's it's after I meet with meet with them. That's the that's the cost of asking for a variance. Okay. So, after I meet with them, because I don't want to spend $100 and they say, "Oh, wait a minute. I didn't plan on doing that." After I meet with them, they decide that's what they want to do. Got it. Okay. Any other discussion on this? Who's going to handle You said the state all state and county health rules are and regulations must be mandated. Who's going to do who's going to take over that? Like the waste? Are

you anybody going to watch them? Cuz I'm telling you, people I know they we'll get complaints from their neighbors when the waste is bad cuz I know people's not going to just dispose of it the way you've got it listed in here. We're just going to have to watch them. It's like anything else. Just got to keep an eye on them. Like I said, it's so many cities going to the chickens. I understand it. But you know, well, my per my view on it is especially with the um you know, the inflation we've had, people I think people should, of course, it's got to be regulated. You know, you can't have chickens running around everywhere like you said. Uh you you know, neighbors fighting neighbors because of it. But I think people should have a right to have chickens um and to get those eggs to feed their family or what you know. Yeah, if we did it by ordinance, we'd be doing code enforcement on it anyway. This way we can lay it out a little bit better. Yeah. Yeah. If there's people I know right now in the city has chickens. We got an ordinance prohibiting chickens and Yeah. You know, so we already have a couple of Yeah. That's what we already have. Um, so and I know people that want chickens that wants to do it legally, you know, follow the ordinance. That's what I've had. A lot of them, like I said, I've had a lot of emails. I don't know how many we've had. That first day is just all day. And uh, most of them wanted to do it legal. Most of them only want three or four. Guess we'll let the board know how I suggested that we handle it this way that anything anything from us tonight or uh no. All right. Any other any other

discussion? Any other business? [Music] All right. No other uh business. I guess we will adjourn. I get a motion to adjurnn. So move. Motion made. Second. I second it. All right. Second. We are adjourned. Thank you.