Post by Christine on May 22, 2008 3:26:22 GMT -5
Salem lets chickens come home to roost
Panel reverses ban on them as pets
By Sarah M. Gantz, Globe Correspondent | May 22, 2008
SALEM - Cora, Nellie, Molly, Henrietta, and Ziti Tuttle won't have to fly the coop after all, despite neighbors' complaints that they were noisy, unsanitary, and responsible for lowering property values.
The Zoning Board of Appeals last night reversed a ruling by the building inspector that had banned residents from keeping chickens as pets.
The ban came after complaints from neighbors in an abutting condominium building that the Tuttles' five silver-laced wyandotte hens were not good eggs because they were too loud, smelled, and deterred prospective renters from moving in.
"They're going on a witch hunt, except this time its chickens," Stefano Picciotto, 64, said of the neighbors opposed to the pet hens.
The plucky five-member board decided that the family could keep their hens because the birds did not meet the definition of agriculture, as they were not being used for food purposes.
Two board members, Rebecca Curran and Annie Harris, said they had previously kept chickens as pets themselves.
"It just seemed to me like it's a popularity contest," said Monica Trindade, a resident of the Leach Nichols condominiums who spoke out in favor of the ban.
Numerous neighbors, friends, and the three Tuttle children who take care of the hens all spoke in the birds' defense. Annie Tuttle, 11, said she and her brother, Will, 10, and sister Libby, 14, love the hens like family members.
"[My mom] wouldn't let me get a horse or a duck or a parrot," Annie said. But the chickens seemed the perfect addition to their family.
Panel reverses ban on them as pets
By Sarah M. Gantz, Globe Correspondent | May 22, 2008
SALEM - Cora, Nellie, Molly, Henrietta, and Ziti Tuttle won't have to fly the coop after all, despite neighbors' complaints that they were noisy, unsanitary, and responsible for lowering property values.
The Zoning Board of Appeals last night reversed a ruling by the building inspector that had banned residents from keeping chickens as pets.
The ban came after complaints from neighbors in an abutting condominium building that the Tuttles' five silver-laced wyandotte hens were not good eggs because they were too loud, smelled, and deterred prospective renters from moving in.
"They're going on a witch hunt, except this time its chickens," Stefano Picciotto, 64, said of the neighbors opposed to the pet hens.
The plucky five-member board decided that the family could keep their hens because the birds did not meet the definition of agriculture, as they were not being used for food purposes.
Two board members, Rebecca Curran and Annie Harris, said they had previously kept chickens as pets themselves.
"It just seemed to me like it's a popularity contest," said Monica Trindade, a resident of the Leach Nichols condominiums who spoke out in favor of the ban.
Numerous neighbors, friends, and the three Tuttle children who take care of the hens all spoke in the birds' defense. Annie Tuttle, 11, said she and her brother, Will, 10, and sister Libby, 14, love the hens like family members.
"[My mom] wouldn't let me get a horse or a duck or a parrot," Annie said. But the chickens seemed the perfect addition to their family.