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ZONING BOARD APPEAL REQUEST FOR USE VARIANCE FOR PAULINE SCHNEIDER, PLOT 55, 19 SOUTH RD, KATONAH, NY. 10536 CLAIMS FOR HARDSHIP TO BE EXPERIENCED UPON REMOVAL OF 4 HENS FOLLOWING ARE ITEMIZED CONDITIONS THAT IMPROVE THE SCHNEIDER FAMILY’S QUALITY OF LIFE AND THAT WOULD BE COMPROMIZED WITHOUT A USE VARIANCE (OR ZONING AMENDMENT FOR ENTIRE TOWN- Excerpt from Pauline's application:
2. INCREASED FOOD SAFETY & NUTRITION “the eggs from your own backyard flock are probably the safest eggs you can eat. When you keep your own birds, you can personally monitor their health, and you can control what feed they eat and the conditions they live in. You can see when they may need medical attention, and you can provide it. Salmonella outbreaks at factory farms are another reason to keep your own hens. When you know anything about factory farms, you realize that the surprising thing here is not that there is an occasional outbreak; the surprising thing is that there aren't many, many more. “ http://www.mypetchicken.com/backyard-chickens/chicken-help/Is-Salmonella-a-concern-with-backyard-chickens-H19.aspx
3. SUSTAINABILITY & ECOLOGY I use no petroleum based fertilizers or pesticides. Chickens provide natural fertilizer and eat Lyme infected Deer ticks & slugs, and grubs, keeping costs low, pests controlled and my lawn green. They eat kitchen scraps and leftovers that have sat too long. They naturally & quickly compost food that would have gone into a compost bin and sat much longer composting. Chickens return the natural bio-ecology and nutrients to soils long depleted these past 50 years by petroleum based gardening methods
REQUEST FOR VARIANCE OF AREA RESTRICTIONS IN ¼ ACRE ZONING, To ALLOW FOR THE KEEPING OF 4 CHICKENS. See Application for % of building coverage and impervious surface. PRECEDENT #1: Ducks with more than 12 fowl IN ¼ ACRE ZONE. NORTH STREET, Katonah. DUCK CROSSING ZONE to warn drivers when ducks are in the street. Adds charm to Katonah PRECEDENT #2: NYC CODE HAS NO ACREAGE OR DISTANCE-FROM-NEIGHBOR RESTRICTIONS. SUCH RESTRICTIONS DISCRIMINATE AGAINST SMALL PROPERTY OWNERS AND REWARD WEALTHY AND/OR LARGE LAND OWNERS ARBITRARILY WITHOUT ANY BENEFIT TO THE WHOLE COMMUNITY BACKYARD COOP IN BROOKLYN. For FOUR HENS. Owned by Martha Lazar. http://www.brooklynfeed.com/tag/backyard-chickens/ http://www.tv4play.se/program/nyheterna?title=ny_trend_i_usa_hons_som_husdjur&video_id=2196083
NYC code also has no restrictions to the number of chickens owned. As long as there are no complaints regarding smells, noise, flies, rodents. These are simply investigated if reported, the city trusts that its citizens will act responsibly. NYC does not preemptively restrict its citizens from owning chickens in anticipation of problems. If problems should arise, citizens are given the opportunity to correct them. Please see Just Food document below for further information. http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/zoo/zoo-animal-healthcode.pdf Chickens are clean and the coop is easy to keep clean. There is no health or safety risk to the neighborhood. ________________
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