Up for discussion at the March 5 meeting was a request made by Hellertown resident Sonya Hughes to have the borough change chapter 112-6 of the borough’s code index. The 112-6 ordinance was adopted in 1964 and involves the conditions under which animals, birds and fowl may be kept. Hughes would like to put a chicken coop in her backyard to house four to six chickens. Although there are a few residents who do have chicken coups in Hellertown, the current ordinance as written would not allow her to have one.

Ordinance 112-6 states “no such coop or pen shall be kept in any cellar or within 75 feet of any house or dwelling or within 10 feet of an alley.” She is asking the borough to amend the ordinance to exempt the property owner’s own home from the minimum 75 feet requirement. Hughes has a garage addition that was added to her house which would make the coup approximately 25 to 30 feet away from her garage which is considered part of the house structure.

Hughes acknowledged that Hellertown consists of small properties that are close to each other, but noted her property is unique because it’s off to the side and she doesn’t have any neighbors on two sides of her property. In addition, she noted that she spoke to the three closest neighbors, who all said they were okay with her adding the coup.

In Hughes’s appeal to the board, she outlined the benefits of having a chicken coup. According to her, raising chickens provides educational value for children, provides food security for poorer families, promotes self-sustainability, lays healthier eggs than store bought eggs, gives gardeners high quality fertilizer, controls bugs and other pests including ticks that may carry Lyme Disease.

She also explained in certain instances there are reasons to not have chickens. One is the noise; however, she said if there is not a rooster present, chickens are quiet and do not make any noise at night. Also, smell can be a concern, but she says a small flock of four or five chickens will defecate as much as an average dog and if kept clean, the smell is not an issue. Predators such as coyotes, foxes and possums can attempt to prey on chickens, but it’s up to the owners to properly secure the chickens to prevent this from happening.

In response, council member Philip Weber said, “I’m not ready to change the ordinance. I don’t know what other options there are.” He did continue, “These ordinances were in place a long time and I really don’t know why they chose 75 feet. For us to change it, I think we would have to do a whole lot of research on why they did what they did back in the day.” Hughes did note there are four other municipalities in the state of Pennsylvania that allow a 25 foot radius.

Council questioned whether a waiver could be done on a case-by-case basis to allow an exemption or if the ordinance would have to be completely amended. In the coming weeks, Solicitor Michael Corriere is going to research the issue further to see what options are available.