Residents in two Barrow County cities are asking for chickens in their backyard, but Gainesville officials don’t see any change in their pet ordinance any time soon.

In Winder, City Council members have decided that homeowners should be allowed to keep up to 10 chickens as pets and are expected to vote on it in upcoming weeks.

Auburn property owners may be able to house up to 36 chickens and hens if proposed regulations from the planning and zoning commission pass an upcoming City Council meeting.

“Our current regulation identifies livestock as cattle, horses, goats, sheep, swine and other hoofed animals, but it also includes poultry, ducks, geese and other live fowl,” Auburn City Planner Larry Lucas said at a public forum last week about the possible changes.

The ordinance change would categorize chickens and hens as pets rather than livestock. Roosters would not be allowed because of their noise potential.

“I know that there is a growing interest and a number of different municipalities and counties ... (proposing) to allow chickens in backyards,” Lucas said.

State Rep. Bobby Franklin, R-Marietta, introduced a bill in 2010 that would allow residents to keep animals or grow food for personal use in their backyards. The bill cleared the House Agriculture Committee but died in the House Rules Committee on Crossover Day, when all bills must make it out of one chamber and into the other.

This year, several metro Atlanta cities are allowing chickens and hens, including Decatur, Villa Rica and Smyrna.
Keeping backyard chicken coops has been outlawed in Gainesville since 1958. County ordinances allow unincorporated residents to keep animals as long as the animals are “adequately contained.”

In the past several years, Gainesville code enforcement officials have issued about 10 citations to residents unlawfully keeping chicken coops in their backyards.

Most complaints come from neighbors who are irritated by the noise, but code enforcement officials haven’t dealt with any problems lately, said Gary Kansky, manager of the city’s code enforcement division.

“We haven’t had any issues in the past year,” he said. “I’m not sure why that is, but I think after so many years of pushing it, people are more aware. Part of our job is communication and education to prevent these problems.”
Since the current ordinance is more than 50 years old, Kansky has plans to rework it and make it more clear. He has talked to city attorney Bubba Palmour and Planning Director Rusty Ligon about updating it.

“Other things have come up in higher priority, especially because we haven’t had any complaints,” he said. “But we have been talking about it.”

Auburn’s ordinance change would only affect residences zoned as R-100, or single-family detached homes, and it would require several regulations. Homeowners could house the chickens for personal use only, and officials would prohibit selling poultry or eggs.

Owners would be required to apply for a special administrative permit that would include a diagram of the proposed location for pens or other enclosures and require a public notice to be posted for 15 days to notify neighbors.

The number of poultry allowed would be based on the total lot size the resident uses to house the poultry, with none allowed on parcels under 0.33 acres, six allowed on lots between 0.34 and 1 acre and 12 poultry per acre for a maximum of 26.

Public hearings are scheduled for March 16 and April 7 before Auburn City Council members vote on the changes April 7.

Allie Jackson, Times regional staff, contributed to this report.