Charlie Breitrose
Rules on keeping chickens in Watertown may change, along with rules for beekeeping.
Watertown residents can keep chickens and bees on their property, but the rules could be changing at an upcoming meeting of the Board of Health.
The Watertown Health Department sent out the following announcement:
The Board of Health will hold a public hearing on an updated “Regulation Governing the Keeping of Animals” and a new “Regulation Governing the Keeping of Hens and Honey Bees,” on April 20, 2016, starting at 7:30 p.m., in the 3rd Floor Conference Room of the Town Administration Building, 149 Main St., Watertown. Comments on the updated animal regulation will be heard first. The second regulation will be divided into a discussion on the keeping of hens first with the keeping of honey bees immediately following.
The primary changes to the existing animal regulation include removing the section on chickens; the addition of specific definitions of animals; and specifying that ten pigeons per applicant will be permitted. The notification process now includes abutters to abutters within 300 feet to be consistent with other zoning requirements.
Like nearby communities, Boston, Somerville and Cambridge, the Board is proposing to allow backyard hens and honey bee hives under this new regulation. The regulation, in general, will allow up to six hens and/or two honey bee hives per lot depending on the size and location. The regulation requires notification of those living on properties that touch the applicant’s property and the Board will hold a hearing on each application.
Copies of these regulations can be obtained from the Health Department on the 1st floor of the Town Administration Building, 149 Main St., Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. or download them from the Town website at ci.watertown.ma.us. Click on Health; Related Documents; then on Draft Regulations in the left hand column under Health.
Questions can be addressed to the Health Department staff at 617-972-6446. Written comments must be received in the Health office at the above address no later than 4 p.m. on April 20.
Big mistake. If you want to be a farmer, move to out to Central Massachusetts where you can buy a home with a nice big plot of land. Chickens are loud and attract coyotes! folks, there is an urban coyote problem if you are not aware! Bees? Are you crazy. What if by change they swarm and attack a child? Why is the town wasting valuable meeting time on foolishness like this? Watertown is an urban suburb, not Green Acres!
Good luck finding a neighbor that will be ok with a rooster screaming his little head off every morning at sun-up.
Good Point Jim. I am not sure if roosters are allowed. There are already some people keeping chickens, however.
I’ve read through the regulations and roosters are not allowed due to the noise factor.
why is that in other cities urban agriculture, bee and chicken keeping works!? btw: have you ever eaten an egg produced by in-your-yard grown hen? be sure it’s better than else if you really catch the know-how.
Having spent many vacations on my grandparents farm, I can tell you chickens are loud and roosters can be agressive. We have enough “fun” listening to our neighbors’ dogs barking in the backyard. People who want chickens and bees have never lived in close proximity to those and are too naive to believe it is a good fit for this community. If one wants fresh eggs, visit the farmers’ market.
It seems we have a preoccupation with copying everything Cambridge and Somerville do. We have always done fine with our own thoughts and decisions.
What makes so many think those cities have all the answers.
We always did fine on our own!
John
John, you are right that we should not do something because another city does it. Nor should we reject an idea because some other city does it.
I suspect that many of Watertown’s immigrants who came from agricultural cultures have kept chickens here in the past. My grandfather kept chickens in an urban factory town in Northern New Jersey. Some old ideas are really good ideas. There was a time when everyone in a place like Watertown had a vegetable patch and raised some of their own food. Maybe that was a good thing.
I don’t have the time to raise chickens, but I am told the fresh eggs beat store bought by a mile!
Just replace “chickens” with “dogs” in any argument against the keeping of a few hens and the argument falls apart. Just like there are policies to cover dogs that are too noisy or whose droppings affect others, the same can be applied to chickens.
I already live in close proximity to someone in Watertown who has chickens, and if I didn’t see them every once in a while I would never know that they are there.
You are exactly right Jeff. I would be happy if any of my neighbors kept chickens. Roosters. . .maybe not as much. But you don’t have to have a rooster for hens to lay eggs. Many towns allow hens, but not roosters.
I agree! I guarantee you that the multiple dogs on my street are noisier than chickens.
I haven’t seen and ideas that they do rejected, but sometimes
I feel like much of our agenda is built on what they do.
John
then, stay on your own!
I’m very pleased that the town is addressing this issue and I fully support Watertown residents being able to keep chickens or bees in their yard.