From Your Creekside Board of Directors
Many of you may have recently seen the anonymous flyer titled The Chicken Vote. If you feel the need to participate in this vote, please know that this “vote” is meaningless as presented in this flyer. However your voice can be heard if you feel the Board is not taking appropriate action. Please read on.
A complaint with regard to chickens in the neighborhood was received by this Board earlier this month. The complaint was taken by the chairperson of the Design Review Committee to investigate and report back to the Board. Since then the Board has been diligently researching and documenting exactly how to address the issue within our current governing documents.
Here is the truth as it relates to chickens in the neighborhood now and what you can do if you have concerns going forward.
- Nowhere in the four (4) covenant documents that currently govern Creekside is there any express mention of domestic fowl of any kind, including chickens. Without specific language, regulation falls to city ordinance.
- In researching what the city says on the matter it was discovered that domestic ducks are not allowed within the city limits but the city does allow a certain number of chicken hens under permit.
- If there is a violation of a city ordinance it can be reported to the city.
- Right now, if chickens are properly permitted by the city, there is no further action that can be taken by the Board unless a coop is needed to house the birds.
- Within the five (5) Design Guideline documents that currently govern Creekside there is specific language regarding external structures and that these structures require approval from the neighborhood’s Design Review Committee in order to ensure they meet our approved rules. While chicken coops are not specifically called out in the guidelines, they are an external structure and, as a result of the extra work put in by the Design Review Committee, it was determined that a coop falls under the existing external structure rules. The committee has added the extra requirement, now that the details are known, that approval of a coop design will require a review of a current city chicken permit. If a coop goes up without approval it, like any other unapproved external structure, will be subject to the covenant violation enforcement policy specific to that homeowner’s address.
These decisions and actions have satisfied the Board that all that can be done has been done to deal with chickens under our current governing documents and that there is a framework for handling any issues regarding domestic fowl that may arise in the future.
If, after reading this, you still want more to be done on this issue, the correct time and place for that passion is either through participating in the covenant revision process that will begin after the Design Guidelines are consolidated, distributed for review and passed. Covenant revision is currently targeted for 2024. You will have the opportunity to propose specific language about chickens that will go through the proper review and approval process. Or, for a more direct impact, consider serving on the all-volunteer Creekside I HOA Board of Directors or on one of the neighborhood’s several committees to have your voice heard. Send us an email at Board@CreeksideNeighborhood.com. We’re always looking for neighbors who want to productively contribute to continuing to keep Creekside the great neighborhood that it is.