SUMTER, S.C. — Chickens are what people are clucking about in Sumter after a new ordinance has been passed.
Sumter City Council has been discussing revising the current fowl ordinance for weeks and new guidelines for owning chickens within the city limits have just been approved.
“They are my girls,” Sumter resident Masie Crouse says about her four hens. “They're my little friends with feathers.”
Crouse has lived in the city for six years, where she decided to hatch her own chickens.
“You have dogs and you have cats, but not everyone can say they have pets as chickens,” Crouse smiles.
Crouse says they keep bugs and snakes out of her yard and provide eggs for her family to eat. But now, those pets are being regulated with a new ordinance approved on Tuesday by the Sumter City Council.
“We call it the chicken ordinance. And it's one that is come from, it was stemmed from some complaints that we've had around the community. We looked at our ordinance and it didn't…it was real subjective and it wasn't where it needed to be,” Mayor David Merchant explains. “Most people live in an urban area for a reason. I know where I live in my neighborhood, I guess I want more regulation than I would on some property out in the county. We're all in close proximity and we want to respect each other's rights and our neighbors rights.”
In short, the old ordinance said chickens must be kept in coops with clean food and water, had to be 30 feet from the owners’ house and couldn’t disturb neighbors with sound, odor or flies.
The new ordinance, however, is more detailed. Each household can have a maximum of 12 chickens.
“I mean, if you're just using them for eggs, 12 is more than plenty,” Crouse believes. “That's perfectly fine, because I don't think anyone that is not considered a farm should have more than 12.”
And, the birds have to be female. The ordinance outlines how the coops should be built…and says they must be at least 50 feet away from a neighbor’s building.
“Personally I don't like that. I am not saying that roosters are necessary, especially for small flocks like I have,” Crouse says, explaining that roosters often protect and care for the hens. “I don't agree that roosters aren't allowed because they’re really not that loud. But I mean, at least I get to keep my chickens. I can deal without you know a rooster. I just…personally, I was very worried that I wasn't going to be able to keep them because they are my pets. They are my family.”
Overall, Crouse says she is fine with the revised ordinance. Merchant tells me striking that balance was the goal.
“I’m real sensitive to this for the folks that really enjoy raising chickens, backyard chickens. But I also want to be sensitive to other people's rights as well and we don’t want someone disturbed by roosters crowing or odors or just a barnyard environment in close proximity to neighborhood. And so we want to be mindful to both people,” Merchant says.
The city does not have a specific deadline on when this ordinance will take effect, but says it's working with current chicken owners to "bring them into compliance in a timely manner."