Council amends and reintroduces small‑livestock ordinance, setting 6/12 limit and permit rules

Bellbrook City Council voted unanimously Aug. 11 to amend and reintroduce an ordinance creating a new small‑livestock provision in the city zoning code. The amended ordinance adds a new section (18.41) permitting small livestock with a zoning permit and establishes density, shelter and nuisance controls.

Under the reintroduced ordinance language, keeping small livestock requires a zoning permit and the lot’s principal use must be a single‑family dwelling. Allowed densities in the version accepted by council are: no more than six small‑livestock animals on lots smaller than one acre, and no more than 12 animals on lots of one acre or larger. The text also permits a temporary “transition” allowance when changing stock equal to up to half the allowable number for a reasonable period.

The ordinance specifies animal‑care and structure requirements: outdoor covered, predator‑proof sheltering structures; a minimum of 4 square feet of sheltered space per individual animal; setback rules for shelters (not closer than 50 feet to a residential property other than the dwelling where the animals are kept and not closer than 25 feet to an abutting property line, per the draft); aggregated accessory‑structure area rules for coops and hutches; feed storage in rodent‑proof containers; and manure disposal options (bagged for household trash, composted on‑site in rodent‑proof containers at least 8 feet from property lines, or applied directly on‑site in ways that prevent nuisance and polluted runoff).

The ordinance text includes a prohibition on commercial sale of animal products in residentially zoned districts (meat, eggs, fur), allows on‑site slaughter only out of public view with waste bagged and disposed as household trash, and cross‑references the city’s nuisance and animal chapters in the Bellbrook Municipal Code for enforcement procedures.

Council received public comment during the discussion from residents who keep or want to keep chickens. Several speakers described typical household needs and production: one resident, Aline Bucksa of 2229 Creekview Place, said, “A family of 4, probably 6 [chickens],” and another, Rebecca Langdon of 2237 Creekview Place, said she would favor having up to 12 animals temporarily during a transition period on her roughly half‑acre lot. Council members expressed concern about maintaining neighborhood character and about clear, enforceable language; several said the ordinance should be simple to administer.

After agreeing on the amended limits and placement, council voted first to accept the amendment and then to reintroduce the ordinance. The reintroduction was followed by a unanimous roll‑call vote to schedule the ordinance for public hearing under the city’s reintroduction procedures; the hearing must occur at least 10 days after introduction per state law. The vote on introduction carried on a unanimous recorded roll call.