Warwick’s chicken prohibition comes home to roost

Several residents came out to the Warwick Village Board meeting on March 17 to show their support for allowing chickens to be kept on village property.

Village code forbids the keeping of chicken, roosters or other non-household birds, and many residents, hoping to raise chickens on their property, feel that this law needs to change.

While not at the meeting, Brian Torpie emailed the village board in favor of changing the law, citing examples from other New York State villages.

“Letting residents keep a few hens would support local food sustainability, give families access to fresh eggs, and allow people to enjoy a rewarding, responsible hobby, just like the residents in these other communities,” Torpie wrote.

Present at the meeting were residents of Fairview Avenue, including Tony Cornelius, who spoke out in support of allowing residents to house chickens on their property.

Cornelius shared that he didn’t know why the law was passed in 1976 and that much has changed since then. He said he prides himself on teaching his children about sustainability and raising your own food (he maintains his own vegetable garden). He proposed the idea of a pilot program to test out the feasibility of allowing chickens in the village.

Mayor Michael Newhard provided some background on the law, sharing that he and a prior village board reviewed the law about 10 to 15 years ago and were working with the Cornell Cooperative Extension to do a pilot program. He said that it was moving forward, however the public pushed back against changing the law. He was amicable to reaching out to Cornell again for guidance.

Cornelius commented that he understood the misconceptions many have, such as the need for a rooster to produce egg-laying hens, which is untrue, and that roosters can be prohibited to reduce noise concerns (Editor’s note: whether they are chicks or not yet hatched, it may be difficult to spot a rooster from a hen until they are further developed). He also offered to be an example of how to raise chickens properly.

Trustee Mary Collura raised concerns about changing the law, noting that it would be hard to handle chickens that wandered onto a neighboring property. She also expressed hesitation at rolling back village laws, which she felt should be done under careful consideration.

Robert Krahulik, a Warwick-based attorney, offered his advice that the matter be reviewed by New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets. He shared that the town of Warwick received a letter from this agency stating that the town’s prohibition on chicken coops on a certain property violated the state’s right to farm laws.

Tax levy

During the meeting, the board passed a local law that would permit the village to exceed the state’s 2% property tax levy limit. Newhard explained that this does not mean the village will exceed this limit, but adopting the law gives them the ability to do so in a challenging year.

“As everyone knows, the increase of goods and services has skyrocketed and we’ve been very, very careful about trying not to let that impact our citizens,” said Newhard, who reminded the public that he and the board are also village residents who themselves feel the impact of increased taxes.