Council member Stacey Sasser brought the fowl issue in Krugerville to council on June 25, sparking considerable discussion.
After Mayor Jeff Parrent handed Sasser the floor, she presented the premise. The city’s code of ordinances stipulated fowl must be house no closer than 200 feet from any residential structure, a number she believed was exorbitant.
“It doesn’t align with the size of our community or that we’re a farming community, and it doesn’t align with other likeness cities,” Sasser said. “Two hundred feet is way outside the scope of what other municipalities that are our size regulate.”
She and Mayor Pro Tem Kristen Kromer listed several for reference during the discussion. Little Elm is 30 feet, Cross Roads is 50 feet, Shady Shores is 25 feet from a residence on 1/3 an acre or more, Oak Point is 20 feet, Pilot Point is 50 feet and Aubrey is 20 feet.
“The Right to Farm Act has been amended,” Sasser said. “Now it covers chickens and clearly states any municipality that regulates outside of what that municipality likeness is, is in violation of the Right to Farm Act. I think if we do 10 feet from the dwelling, it’s appropriate for where we live.”
Council member Marian Ragsdale asked for clarification on whether the ordinance dealt with a number of fowl.
“I’m glad you asked that,” Sasser said. “The Right to Farm Act now says municipalities cannot regulate the number of chickens within the city. If it becomes a nuisance, then it can fall under regulation.”
Council member Shane Kading agreed with Sasser and was first to mention the value of a nuisance ordinance in tandem with the distance, saying citizens should be able to live with chickens as close to their dwelling as they please so long as their waste or noise doesn’t become a nuisance to the neighbors.
Council member Rodney Cagle followed suit, saying other ordinances covered the issues, so the footage from a dwelling was less a concern.
Assistant City Administrator Sandy Frantz posited an issue on the specifics, asking if the proposed 10 feet from a dwelling covered the residents looking to own the chickens, their neighbors or both.
That issue both she and Kromer expressed concern with.
“We shouldn’t have neighbors encroaching on other neighbors,” Kromer said. “If you want it 10 feet from your back porch, that’s fine, but it needs to be 40 from mine.”
She clarified the 40 feet was an arbitrary number used as example.
Parrent urged council not to get too deep into the weeds, encouraging them to keep it as simple as possible for the purpose of enforcement.
Kromer was the sole dissenting council member to Sasser’s suggestion during discussion, but when Parrent called the vote, she voted to approve the change, making the council’s approval unanimous.
