Commissioners favor 6,000-sq-ft minimum for backyard chickens; smaller-lot allowance removed from hearing draft

Roy City commissioners spent substantial time on Feb. 24 debating whether residents who live in single-family homes inside multifamily zones should be allowed to keep chickens and rabbits.

Steve (staff) said the question came from a council member and presented two pathways: extend chicken allowances into additional zones but keep the 6,000-square-foot minimum currently used by single-family zones, or lower the lot-size threshold to 4,000–5,999 sq ft for some zones. "If you remember in December, we kind of were talking about how small of a parcel should we go and how many chickens should that have," Steve said, summarizing prior work sessions.

Several commissioners raised practical concerns about smaller lots: coop siting and setbacks, noise and smell, and rodents attracted to urban coops. One commissioner who deals regularly with nuisance complaints said lots under 6,000 sq ft often lack enough separation to avoid neighbor impacts. Another commissioner reported surveying lots via aerial imagery and concluded few 4,000–5,000 sq ft parcels could meet the setback and coop-size requirements without significant site work.

Given those constraints, Moderator (S2) proposed removing the smaller-lot allowance from the version taken to the public hearing while keeping the commission’s ability to amend the draft if testimony supports it. Commissioners agreed to present the 6,000-sq-ft standard at the public hearing and to accept public input on possible exceptions or adjustments. The staff presentation noted coop-size and run-size standards and reiterated that the same rules would apply to rabbits.