Chickens and charging electric vehicles are the subjects of legislation headed to public hearings for the Village of Sea Cliff. The Board of Trustees has drafted new laws pertaining to chicken ownership and designation of parking spaces for charging electric vehicles.
Sea Cliff’s current code regarding owning chickens states that residents must get written permission from 75 percent of adults living within 200 feet of their property in order to obtain a permit to own chickens. They must apply, including written permission from those individuals. The new law will scrap the permit system all together, no longer requiring residents to get permission from neighbors. Instead, residents will be able to keep chickens on their property as long as they follow the new regulations.
In an interview, Village Administrator Bruce Kennedy described the regulations as “very simple and fair” and explained the overall contents of the law.
“As a law,” he said. “this protects the neighbors, protects the public and institutes humane practices.”
Additionally, the new law includes definitions of key terms related to chicken ownership. Hen and rooster are among the defined terms. The law will allow ownership of hens, female chickens, but not roosters, male chickens. Other defined terms include chicken run, a space connected to a coop where chickens may roam freely, and chicken coop, the enclosure that contains chickens. Owners will be able to keep a maximum of six hens on their property.
Parameters regarding the locations and sizes of chicken runs and coops are that both must be kept in a backyard or side yard. Chicken runs can have a maximum area of 150 square feet. Coops can have a maximum area of 50 square feet and maximum height of sevenfeet. Neither can be placed closer to the street or a neighbor’s house than it is to the owner’s house.
“We wanted to strike the right balance,” said Mayor Elena Villafane. “between the rights of neighbors to live in their property and utilize it in a way that they see fit, and neighbors who may not necessarily be in favor of that use.”
When the village began modernizing its chicken legislation, Villafane said that there was a concern about putting an unnecessary burden on Sea Cliff’s Building Department. Without a permit system, the board and building department will not need to get involved in hen ownership unless a resident violates the regulations.
In the event that a hen owner is not in compliance with the guidelines, the building department will notify the board. The hen owner would then appear in front of the board to determine whether there is a violation and how it will be addressed. If the violation is not addressed, the owner will receive a summons and will have to pay a fine.
“There’s a real encouragement to just adhere to the law,” Kennedy said. “as opposed to (getting) into a court battle.”
The board reviewed chicken ownership legislation in other communities on Long Island and spoke with a hen owner of 20 years as part of the research for writing the new law.
According to Villafane, the board has become aware of hen-owning residents that did not go through the old permit system but live “peaceably and peacefully with their neighbors.” She said this is part of the reason the board is no longer requiring permits.
“People are already doing this and doing it well,” Villafane said. “And they’re not annoying their neighbors.”
In addition to updated chicken legislation, the village is adding a section to Chapter 125 of its code to designate parking spaces for charging and parking of electric vehicles.
An electric vehicle charging station has been installed in the village parking lot on Sea Cliff Avenue. The unit has two ports, allowing two vehicles to be charged simultaneously. According to Kennedy, the charger should be operational within the next two weeks.
The new law will allow the village to designate spaces for charging and parking electric vehicles and remove that designation if needed. Currently, this applies to spaces in the lot where the charger is located. If other chargers were to be installed, this law would give the village the ability to assign parking spaces for electric vehicles near those chargers.
Sea Cliff’s units will use ChargePoint, a commonly used electric vehicle charging platform. Electric vehicle owners will be responsible for covering the cost of charging with no additional costs for users. The village is not making revenue from vehicle charging.
Villafane said that in addition to charging services being available to residents, part of the motivation for installing this unit is to attract people to Sea Cliff.
“‘I am somewhere locally, I need to charge’,” she said, giving an example of a hypothetical visitor. “‘I’m going to go into Sea Cliff, and I will have lunch at a restaurant. I’ll go shopping in the stores. I will take a visit to the museum, and I will come to learn about Sea Cliff.’ But that can only happen if there are spots available in that lot.”
She added that the village is exploring timed parking control as a way to make spots available.
Drivers in violation of the rules for parking spaces designated for electric vehicles will be fined.
Public hearings regarding both new laws are scheduled for March 9.
