As the Board of Supervisors pushes ahead with a crowing fowl
ordinance that will establish new rules for housing noisy birds,
existing lighting regulations may bring some relief to
rooster-weary residents on Lone Tree Road who live near a ranch
that is home to nearly 500 crowing cocks.
Hollister – As the Board of Supervisors pushes ahead with a crowing fowl ordinance that will establish new rules for housing noisy birds, existing lighting regulations may bring some relief to rooster-weary residents on Lone Tree Road who live near a ranch that is home to nearly 500 crowing cocks.
Tired of being awaken early each morning by the crowing of 499 roosters, residents of Lone Tree Road in northern San Benito County have been complaining about the ranch since it moved into their neighborhood about eight months ago. During the Jan. 24 Board of Supervisors meeting, neighbors told the Board that lighting has been installed on the property and now the roosters crow all night long. County officials and neighbors of the ranch have speculated that the roosters are being raised for illegal cock fights.
“It’s getting beyond control,” neighbor Dave Rovella told Board members.
During the meeting, Board Chair Pat Loe said that the county has a ‘dark skies’ ordinance that regulates lighting on property. Code Enforcement Officer Stacy Watson, who was at the meeting, promptly confirmed that the county did have a lighting ordinance and her department would enforce it.
On Monday, Watson said she is still working to determine whether the lighting at the rooster ranch violates county lighting regulations, which limit how intense outdoor lighting can be.
“I have not seen it at night,” she said. “I have pictures forthcoming.”
While enforcing the county’s dark skies ordinance and shutting off the lights at the rooster ranch may give Lone Tree residents some relief at night, it will be a long time before the crowing ends for good. Under the county’s current zoning, a person can house up to 499 roosters on agricultural productive land – the zoning of the property on Lone Tree Road.
“We’re really powerless at this time to address these problems on Lone Tree,” interim County Counsel Claude Biddle said during the Board meeting.
In an effort to deal with the problem, Biddle has crafted an ordinance that will limit how many crowing fowl people have on their property and how the birds are housed. The ordinance, which is still in draft form, will require a property owner to get a permit if they have seven or more crowing fowl. The ordinance will also require that the birds be kept in a way that will not create a nuisance – such as in a sound-proof enclosure or behind a sound wall.
The ordinance will go to the county planning commission before it comes back to the Board of Supervisors for adoption. Once the ordinance becomes law, land owners who currently house crowing fowl will have two years to bring their property into compliance.
While neighbors of the rooster ranch thanked the Board for addressing the problem of crowing fowl, they are growing impatient.
“We’re looking for the legal and proper way of doing it, but we’re running out of patience,” Rovella said.
Luke Roney covers local government and the environment for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at [email protected]
