After lengthy debate, Manassas council signals not to advance relaxed backyard-chicken rules now

City staff briefed the Manassas City Council Committee of the Whole on options for revising local rules to allow backyard chickens and sought guidance on whether to pursue a zoning approach, an animal-control ordinance approach, or to leave current rules unchanged.

Staff said chickens were technically allowed by ordinance only where a coop would sit 250 feet from any occupied residence — a requirement staff described as a de facto citywide ban because virtually no city lots meet that buffer. Staff explained two principal pathways: (a) a zoning-text amendment establishing minimum lot sizes and siting standards (the 2021 draft used a 10,000‑square‑foot minimum); or (b) a change to Chapter 18 (animal control) that would rely on a permit/inspection model and allow annual renewal and administrative controls. Staff recommended a 20,000‑square‑foot minimum lot size if the city chose to allow…