Coweta commissioners ask staff to draft ordinance to allow backyard chickens with limits

Coweta County commissioners asked staff to draft a zoning amendment that would allow backyard chickens on certain residential lots, narrowing the current ordinance standards that effectively restrict poultry to larger agricultural parcels.

Mister Fouts and community development staff told the board that current language in the Rural Conservation (RC) district treats poultry as a nonconforming agricultural use or accessory when located on larger acreage, and the ordinance requires coops to be at least 100 feet from property lines and 200 feet from off‑site dwellings in some provisions. Those setbacks and minimum acreage effectively prevent many one‑ to three‑acre lots or smaller subdivisions from accommodating backyard chickens.

Stephanie Butcher of 4‑H described youth poultry programs and said the strict setbacks can prevent children on smaller lots from participating in fair and extension activities. Community development noted the packet contained a sample draft ordinance (staff said that draft recommended a maximum of eight birds and included a proposed half‑acre minimum) and that surrounding counties commonly allow limited backyard poultry with conditions.

Board members voiced practical enforcement concerns and discussed common mitigations such as prohibiting roosters to reduce noise complaints. Staff advised that code enforcement typically acts only on formal complaints and that the draft avoids complex lot‑size scaling to reduce enforcement burdens; instead staff proposed a simple maximum number per household and a minimum lot size to balance neighbor concerns.

Commissioners directed staff to draft a formal amendment and return it to the board for consideration at a future meeting; no ordinance was adopted at the work session.