After months of being awakened before sunrise each morning by a
cacophony made by hundreds of crowing roosters, residents on Lone
Tree Road may soon get some relief.
Hollister – After months of being awakened before sunrise each morning by a cacophony made by hundreds of crowing roosters, residents on Lone Tree Road may soon get some relief.
County Counsel Claude Biddle is putting the finishing touches on a zoning ordinance that will institute new rules on the keeping of fowl in rural residential areas. Residents on Lone Tree Road in northern San Benito County have complained about a rooster ranch, which houses about 500 birds, that moved into their neighborhood several months ago.
“We have a number of residents that all have a very viable complaint,” said Supervisor Don Marcus, whose district includes Lone Tree Road.
Earlier in the year, Marcus considered a general noise ordinance for agricultural areas in the county – which are not included in the county’s existing noise ordinance. He abandoned that effort, saying it would have adversely affecting other agricultural activities on ag-zoned land.
Since then he has been working with Biddle to develop an ordinance aimed specifically at the nuisance created by noisy fowl.
“We want to maintain the property rights of rural residents while protecting the rights of their neighbors,” he said.
The new ordinance would require people who wish to house crowing fowl on their property to receive a permit from the planning commission which would require that the birds will be kept in a way – such as in a sound-proof enclosure or behind a sound wall – that would not create a nuisance. The proposed ordinance is loosely based on a similar law in Riverside County.
“What means needed to keep the noise down would be the burden of the owner,” Marcus said.
Currently, a person can house up to 499 birds on ag-zoned land without having to get a permit and with no requirement to control noise.
Marcus said he expects Biddle to give a progress report during the Oct. 25 Board of Supervisors meeting. The county planning commission will have a hearing before it comes to supervisors for a vote.
“I’m glad they’re doing something about it,” said Lone Tree Road resident Nancy Laleau.
