LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
CHICKENS DO NOT MAKE GOOD NEIGHBORSReceived from Linda & Helge Langerud Hammond Rd. Glen Cove
September 28, 2016 To the Editor: This is a letter to the editor responding to several inaccuracies in the recent article written in Northwordnews.com about chickens on Hammond Rd. Our neighbor on Hammond Rd (approximately 2/3 Glen Cove and 1/3 Sea Cliff) had a chicken coop constructed and housed chickens in 2015 and 2016 on the Glen Cove portion of her property with failure to adhere to existing laws. Note: The code is the same for both Glen Cove and Sea Cliff regarding this matter. The Sea Cliff code (on the books since 1979, with no compelling reason for change) reads as follows…………. Chapter 36 Animals, Fowl and Insects § 36- 2 Application for permit..... The application for a permit shall be accompanied by the consent, in writing, of at least 75% of all adult residents living within 200 feet of the outer extremities of the applicant's property.... The history in brief…… Our neighbor housed a brood of chickens in 2015. We tolerated the nuisance of noise and odor that year and by the years end the chickens had been donated to a local chicken farm. A new brood appeared in 2016 and now we knew what to expect. The last straw was finding a huge dead rat covered with flies in my backyard. Rats can transmit a number of diseases that could pose a health risk to families and pets. Nassau County Department of Health visited the area and said that the chicken feed was attracting rats. I am no longer comfortable in my own backyard. Flies feeding on chicken manure and dead rats is not conducive to having a barbecue. Controlling the Rat - A Community Effort (see link to website below) www.nassaucountyny.gov/3571/Rats Now, here we go again. This same resident now wants to have a chicken coop on her small piece of Sea Cliff property, a long narrow strip of terraced terrain approximately 30 ft. X 146 ft. This is in Residence Zone B and none of the minimum lot requirements can be met. It’s very easy for residents, who are not the neighbors within 200 feet to say it would be a great idea to have chickens in OUR neighborhood. Clearly, if there is going to be a negative impact, it would be with the immediate neighbors. This is not a matter of what zip code one lives in, but rather a quality of life issue. This is really the whim of one individual against the concerns of both Sea Cliff and Glen Cove neighbors in the area. This whole situation is a far greater detriment to the neighborhood than any benefit obtained by this single applicant. We have laws, codes and ordinances for a reason and they must be enforced not amended to appease one person over the concerns of many. The bottom line is that the vast majority residents in the designated area have already experienced having chickens in our neighborhood, spoken out against them in writing and we don’t want chickens back. Linda & Helge Langerud BACK TO WEEKLY |
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