Inside 84045

Posted By Mike Kieffer on January 13, 2010

This article was written by Sandy Steele (Maico55@aol.com) for publication on www.inside84045.org. Please contact the author if you have any questions, or feel free to leave comments on this post.

Saratoga Springs is a unique community in many ways. When my husband and I were looking for an area in which to retire, we were immediately drawn to Saratoga Springs. It is a new community that does not have the older, run down areas of many of Utah communities. The homes are less than 15 years old and there are very few accessory structures that could be prone to neglect. If you look in older communities, the areas that are unsightly are usually areas in which accessory structures and animal housing structures are allowed. Quite often these structures tend to deteriorate at a faster pace than the homes. Saratoga Springs does not have many areas that would be classified as unsightly. Those areas that do fall into that category are usually found in the areas that allow agriculture and are larger properties. Chicken keeping on small lots would encourage accessory structures on very small back yards.

It is my belief that people who bought homes in the Lake Mountain area may have been led to believe that chickens are allowed. There are CC and R’s that address animal keeping. These CC and R’s were adopted after Saratoga Springs became a City. It would lead people to believe that animal keeping is allowed. There is a state law that says the most restrictive of City Codes or CC and R’s must be enforced. Therefore, I feel that it would be fair to add a zone to the City of Saratoga Springs Land Development Code that would allow a certain number of animals on smaller lots within that zone. It is my opinion that a new zone should only be enacted in the areas that currently have C C and R’s that allow chicken keeping. It could be as simple as an R3-A zone. This would mean a particular area that has R-3 zoning (lots of 10,000 sq. ft and up) would be allowed to have chickens and other animals as set forth in the CC and R’s in that area.

Just as the people who bought homes in Lake Mountain after relying on the CC and R’s should be allowed certain animal keeping privileges, those people who bought homes in other areas of the City after reading the City of Saratoga Springs Land Development Code and finding that animal keeping was only allowed in the R A and R R zones should be protected from having animal keeping in their neighborhoods of small lots.

There are several issues that should be considered when discussing animal keeping on small lots within the City of Saratoga Springs City Limits. As I stated earlier, our City is unique. It is unique because most of our lots are hillside lots. Because of this unique feature in our city, most of the drainage of lots is to Utah Lake. There are several parks that have been planned to utilize detention basins. These basins are designed to accept sheet flow from the surrounding lots. If there are chickens, during storms the sheet flow will run over the chicken waste and will deposit the run-off from chicken waste and possibly chicken waste itself right into the detention basin as planned. Then as the water recedes, children will be playing in those detention basin parks and I have observed people enjoying picnics in these detention basins. This is one of the main reasons that saying “other cities are allowing chickens on small lots” should not be relevant. Those other cities do not have the drainage issues that this city has. Most of the lots in my subdivision drain onto or over another lot in order to reach storm catch basins. This means I am accepting the run-off from my neighbors’ yards. If my neighbor has chickens, then my property will have the potential for bacteria from the chickens. That bacteria then has the potential to be tracked into my home. One of the main bacteria that chickens carry is salmonella.

The Center for Disease Control has published a paper “Health Risks associated with raising chickens.” This article states “ Birds infected with Salmonella do not usually appear sick. Salmonella lives in the intestine of infected chickens and can be shed in large numbers in the droppings. Once shed, bacteria can spread across the chicken’s body as the bird cleans itself and throughout the environment as the chicken walks around.” In this article there are a list of precautions. Please refer to www.cdc.gov/healthypets/pdf/intown_flocks.pdf.
This will give you the full list. I will quote the first two:
“1. Keep baby chicks and adult chickens away from persons with weaker immune systems, including the elderly, pregnant women, diabetics, patients receiving chemotherapy, and people who are infected with HIV.
2. Do not keep chickens if a household has children less than five years of age. “

It is my opinion that these two statements are enough, for anyone who is considering keeping chickens on a small lot to at least have second thoughts. There should be concern for the potential health risks to which their family and neighbors could be exposed. I believe that issues such as these are the reasons that the early planners in this community felt that it best protected the citizens to require larger acreages for the keeping of chickens and other farm animals. In fact, it is written into the current code that pens must be kept at least 75 feet away any residence including the property owner’s residence. On a small 10,000 sq.ft. parcel with a residence, this requirement is impossible to meet.

In a Utah State Cooperative Extension publication of July 2009, “Considerations in Raising Small Backyard Flocks of Poultry,” the statement is made: “ The commercial poultry industry contributes a significant and vital part to the agricultural economy of the State. Anything that jeopardizes the viability of this industry also jeopardizes the economic health of Utah. It is important that these commercial flocks be protected from serious diseases that would decimate this sector of Utah’s economy. An upsurge in the number of small backyard flocks-particularly if not properly managed-might significantly increase the probability of disease exposure to the commercial industry. Past history has shown that diseases such as Exotic Newcastle Disease can become present in the hobby poultry community. Exotic Newcastle Disease can cause tremendous poultry death in both the small backyard flocks and in large commercial poultry operations. The discovery of Exotic Newcastle Disease, for example will have devastating economic consequences from both death loss as well as the loss of trade with other countries.”

The article goes on to state: “Where there is feed, there are rodents. Mice thrive in areas where chicken feed is improperly stored and excessive spillage occurs. Rats could become a problem in excessively wet areas or where water leaks occur.” Another portion of this publication deals with protection from predators and disease. “Chickens need to be enclosed in a coop at night to protect them from predators.” This article also says that improper management of waste can lead to flies and excessive odor.

This publication also poses the question “Does the community have the adequate resources and personnel to deal with people who break the rules or handle poultry in cruel or inhumane ways?” Widespread chicken keeping in Saratoga Springs could overburden our Code Enforcement and Animal Control officers.

In my opinion, if we allow chickens in residential neighborhoods, we have to accept that mice and rats, and flies could become a permanent part of our life. This article states we must protect the chickens from predators. Those properties which are near the wildland interface areas of Saratoga Springs could see an increase in foxes, bobcats and cougars. There have already been numerous sightings of these predators. Do we want to increase the potential for the predators to come further into our community and the potential for small children to have an encounter with one of these predators?

An article on ImmunoCAP InVitroSight states that “Asthma, allergic rhinitis and allergic conjunctivitis may result following exposure to Chicken feathers, epithelial cells or droppings.” The Center for Disease Control has information concerning Histoplasmosis. This is a disease that one can contract from soil contaminated with bird or chicken droppings. This is a disease also mentioned in the “Utah Department of Agriculture Study Manual Vertebrate Animal Pest Control.” The National Eye Institute publication on Histoplasmosis gives information on how histoplasmosis can affect the eyes and can cause blindness. There have been studies done in Belgium which indicate “that chickens foraging on soils contaminated with environmental pollutants accumulate these compounds into their eggs.” In the journal “Science of the Total Environment” there is a claim that “flies flitting around chicken crap help spread drug-resistant superbugs.”

Is it worth the risk to the citizens of Saratoga Springs to allow widespread keeping of chickens on small lots? There is a cost of housing and feeding chickens and one must ask if the dollars saved after expenses are worth the health and property risks to family, friends and neighbors.

- Sandy Steele

Categories: General, Ordinance
Tags: Chickens, Ordinance