Chicken Coops Coming to Maplewood?

If it's happening in Brooklyn, you know it won't be long until it hits Maplewood (as an acquaintance in New York State recently said, "Maplewood is the Park Slope of New Jersey").

What's happening in Brooklyn? People are going cuckoo for chicken coops.

The raise-your-own-organic-chickens-and-eggs-in-your-backyard movement, evidenced by numerous media stories—recently, Peggy Orenstein wrote about the trend in the March 11, 2010 edition of the New York Times Magazine ("The Femivore's Dilemma")—is particularly hot in New York City's hip and happening outer borough.

And Vice Mayor Kathy Leventhal thinks it might be time to bring the trend to Maplewood. She cited a number of media reports herself, including these from readymade.com and Channel 7. The ReadyMade site mentions that most town ordinances require that the coop be 20 ft from your home and 40 ft from your neighbors' homes (in NYC, they are simply considered pets). Leventhal noted that through WWII many Americans raised chickens on their property—in both rural and urban settings—as well as maintained victory gardens.

Leventhal pointed out that Deputy Mayor Fred Profeta's family had both a chicken coop and a victory garden back in the day.

However, there is an ordinance in Maplewood outlawing such activity. The ordinance, adopted in 2005 (see attached), also excludes sheep, goats, cattle, swine and horses.

"I've asked the Board of Health—made up of the Township Committee—to consider allowing chickens to be raised for eggs," wrote Leventhal in an email. "I'd want residents to obtain a permit and follow rules which could include among other things: no roosters (not necessary for eggs), distance from homes, and number of chickens."

Leventhal feels that allowing people to raise chickens fits with goals of sustainability that the Town is reaching for—and that have become popular in our now environmentally conscious society.

Besides, it's fun, said Leventhal: "Raising chickens in NYC has resulted in a friendly competitiveness in rating eggs produced!"

At Tuesday night's Board of Health meeting, per Leventhal's request, Maplewood Health Officer Robert Roe said he would look into the matter. He said he would need to check to see if chickens harbored or attracted any parasites or pests. All in all, said Roe, "I'd rather see a chicken wandering through my backyard than a stray cat."

But that's another story: Stay tuned for updates on the proposed ordinance prohibiting the feeding of unlicensed cats. . . .