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Collierville residents complain of peacocks trespassing, property damage; ask town enforcement
Summary
Two neighboring residents told the Collierville board that an adjacent farm's free-roaming peacocks are trespassing, creating noise and damaging property; they asked the town to enforce animal and nuisance codes after citations and fencing attempts.
Two residents living on North Windingwood Circle addressed the Collierville Board of Mayor and Aldermen during citizen comments to report ongoing problems with peacocks from a nearby Menagerie Farms on Shea Road.
Cheryl Hibbs told the board she and her husband have lived at 1490 North Windingwood Circle for just over 10 years and said the farm's peacocks have increasingly entered neighborhood yards, roosted on homes and vehicles, and created noise during a mating season she said lasts five months. She said the peacock population on the farm had grown to about nine birds in February and that groups of birds frequently enter her yard.
Her husband, Steve Hibbs, said he and his wife view the farm as an asset to Collierville but said the unconfined peacocks are causing trespass, defecation and damage to roofing and landscaping. He cited Collierville municipal code sections on fowl running at large (code 94.4) and fowl making loud noises (code 94.07) and said animal-control visits had resulted in noise citations but that staff determined the town was not in a position to pursue a fowl-at-large summons because of wording in that ordinance.
The Hibbses said they sought cooperation from the farm owner; the owner had initially proposed a six-foot fabric fence but the town's code department indicated a six-foot wood privacy fence would be allowable if the required maintenance of the grass strip between fences was preserved. The residents said a wood fence was installed adjacent to an existing rusted metal hog-wire fence leaving a six-inch gap that now contains tall weeds, visible from their yard, and they said the installation and ongoing vegetation devalue their property.
The residents said animal-control visits resulted in the farm temporarily penning the birds, which reduced the noise, but that the farm has posted on social media seeking support and legal advice and has suggested the birds are "grandfathered" without restrictions. The Hibbses said they worry future marketing or public visitation could increase noise and trespass and asked the board to enforce the town's nuisance and fowl-related codes.
Mayor Frasier and the board thanked the Hibbses for their comments. No board action was recorded at the meeting; the residents said they had contacted the code department and had two animal-control reports on record.
