Step Code and Chicken Update. Go Fund Me.

Local FB post goes viral - "what no chickens?" .

Hello folks, a quick Substack to bring you up to date on a few things.

First - a member of our COAP community has fallen very ill, and we want to reach out to our members to ask for support, whether that be in prayer, or pocket change. Steven is well known at council meetings that he attends, as a soft spoken advocate for change, usually starting his speeches off with a short song, bringing smiles to the councillor’s faces.

Steven is currently in St. Paul’s hospital with no clear future outcome as doctors are stumped as to how to access the mass in his body. You can read more in Steven’s GiveSendGo here: https://www.givesendgo.com/stevenlay

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The Step Code Acceleration reversal put forward by Cllr. Findlay passed on Wednesday with a 4-2 vote (Cllr. Istace and Mayor Douglas opposed). This now means that local builders may abide by the Province’s Step Codes (instead of those forced upon them by the Municipality), allowing a longer time period for builders to adjust to Step Code 4 by 2030. You can read the history on this bylaw debate HERE

You can watch the public input followed by the council debate by clicking the link below, scrolling down to public input, pressing on that and the video will start right at the point of public input. You can scroll down below public input to just listen to council debate by pressing on that agenda item. LINK HERE

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Many people may have seen a post on FB this week from a woman who had bylaw called on her - originally for a noise complaint ( Rooster), however when bylaw arrived at her North Cowichan home she was told she could not have chickens. She, her husband and her daughters were devastated. The rooster was removed the same day, and bylaw originally gave her a week to remove the chickens, but then lengthened that to a month.

We reached out to her and were told how sad her family was as they intentionally bought them from the “chicken lady” in the valley, who told them to get them as chicks so they could grow up around the kids and get used to being held. They became loved family pets, and she said that they always made a promise their children that if they got a pet, they would never give it up. The mom stated that the bylaw officer was very nice, a little confused himself, and returned to the office for clarification. Now all of us in the Lane road area know that many people keep chickens, and have for years….what changed?

People voiced their shock and confusion on the Facebook post.

We reached out to bylaw to ask the exact bylaw that was being cited. We received this response:

“Good afternoon ,

Thank you for your email. Poultry has certainly been a topic of discussion over the past week and into this one. Please allow me to provide some clarification on the bylaws and poultry.

The Zoning Bylaw provides the information regarding permitting of poultry in North Cowichan. Section 48.1 states the following:

48.1 (1) The keeping of farm animals and poultry is permitted on a lot greater than 8000 m2 (1.98 ac) in area.

(2) The keeping of farm animals and poultry is not permitted on a lot less than 8000 m2 (1.98 ac) in area, except as follows:

(a) on a lot greater than 1675 m2 (0.41 ac) in area but less than 4000 m2 (0.99 ac) in area, a total of not more than 12 rabbits or poultry;

(b) on a lot equal to or greater than 4000 m2 (0.99 ac) in area but less than 8000 m2 (1.98 ac) in area, a total of not more than 12 rabbits or poultry and a total of not more than 2 farm animals.

(3) Any structure to house farm animals, or poultry must be set back at least 15 m from any lot line.

(4) Any structure used for the storage of manure must be set back at least 15 m from any lot line.

(5) Notwithstanding the foregoing, where the minimum setback requirements from all lot boundaries of the zone in which the structure is located are greater than 15 m, the greater setback requirements apply. [BL3758]

I can identify two main reasons for the current confusion regarding poultry allowances:

1. An amendment was made to Section 48.1 in December 2019, specifically to subsection (5). This amendment only affected the setback requirements and did not change which lots are permitted to keep poultry.

2. The maximum number of poultry permitted on lots of a particular size remained unchanged from previous Municipal Animal Control Bylaws to 2019 when this language was migrated over and incorporated into the Zoning Bylaw. Therefore, there are no 'grandfathering' provisions that would apply, and today's Zoning Bylaw provisions would apply uniformly to all properties with respect to the zones and lot sizes that permit the keeping of poultry

If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. Thank you.”

We reached back out again to get clarification as to WHEN the original bylaw was put in place as we will be producing a petition in the near future to get the bylaw amended to match that of Duncan’s (that allows 6 chickens without a license). Within the time of leaving a message and our call being returned (promptly), it seems the bylaw officers got to the bottom of the ‘mystery’. Two councils ago (years ago) the council at that time had put a pause on the enforcement based on the size of the property, hence why no one in North Cowichan had been approached by bylaw for their chickens in as long as anyone could remember.

*The noise bylaw is still in place, based on complaints around rooster noises.

So as it stands, chickens are allowed, however this ‘pause’ could end at anytime and we are calling on council to amend this bylaw in the name of food security and common sense.

We are happy for the family who originally posted their concerns, which led to clarification, and their daughters being able to keep their chickens.

On-line petition to follow.

Sincerely,

Team COAP