Monroeville zoning board approves small chicken coop at 310 Oakwood Drive

The Monroeville Zoning Hearing Board on May 2025 approved a special exception allowing Steven and Anna Hensel to install a chicken coop and keep no more than four hens at 310 Oakwood Drive in the R-2 (single/multifamily) zoning district.

The request — filed under Article 12, section 1211(c)(4) of Monroeville Zoning Ordinance No. 2779 — was granted after the applicants described a fully enclosed coop and run designed to deter predators and minimize neighborhood impacts. The board moved to approve the application without further conditions.

Steven and Anna Hensel, the applicants, told the board the structure will sit on a roughly 79.3-square-foot flat area behind their driveway, inside a three-stage enclosure: a nesting/roosting coop, a fully enclosed wire-mesh run with a roof and a bottom to prevent predator intrusion, and a small rotating grass run. “We’re here to apply for a variance here to house some chickens on our property, small coop,” the applicants said during their testimony. They said they had spoken with adjacent neighbors, who raised no concerns, and that they do not intend to sell eggs.

Board members asked about coop and run size, predator protection and waste management. The applicants said they will containerize food waste, compost manure gradually and use it in their garden. No written correspondence opposing the application was reported; staff said letters were mailed to adjoining property owners and a public notice was placed in the local newspaper.

A board member moved to approve the special exception and the motion was seconded; the presiding officer announced the motion carried. The board did not attach additional conditions or direct follow-up items related to the Hensel property.