ROCKINGHAM — City residents are now allowed to keep up to six hens in their backyards.
The Rockingham City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved an amendment to the Unified Development Ordinance that would allow residents to keep egg-laying hens in all zoning districts.
Assistant City Manager John Massey said the amendment was initially drafted more than a decade ago, but was shot down by the Planning Board at the time.
Since then, several residents have built backyard coops, but Massey said those haven’t been a priority for code enforcement. He added that the city was aware of at least two dozen households with chickens, prior to the passage of the amendment.
Massey said Rockingham’s amendment was modeled after one in Wake County, and pointed out the Southern Pines allows up to 10 hens.
“We felt like it would be appropriate to give our residents an opportunity to have the keeping of laying hens, as well,” Massey said.
While there was no one to speak for or against the measure during a public hearing, Massey said he did receive an email from a non-resident property owner who complained about a neighbor’s hens roaming around the rental property.
“She does not like that,” Massey said, adding that free-range chickens will be against the city ordinance. “You’ve got to have them contained, constantly, in a coop.”
Massey added that code enforcement is familiar with the situation.
Roosters are not allowed under the new ordinance. However, Massey said the city has received complaints of one.
“The problem is, they can’t tell us where it is,” Massey said. “They give us a neighborhood, and trying to isolate where one rooster is, that’s crowing in the morning, is difficult.”
Assistant City Manager John Massey addresses the Rockingham City Council on Feb. 10.
William R. Toler - Richmond Observer
The council later approved the demolition of a burned-out home at 205 S. Brookwood Avenue.
Massey said the house was not salvageable and was not safe enough to obtain photos of the interior.
The property owner, listed as Bessie Young, met with city officials and Massey said she “has no interest in making any effort to clean this up.”
The city previously approved demolition ordinances for three other houses on Brookwood in 2021 and 2022.
The only other action taken by the city council on Tuesday was the appointment of Daria Mohr to the Historic Preservation Board.
Massey said that Mohr — who approached him about serving — lives in the greater historic district of the city and has a background in history.
With Mohr’s appointment, the board currently has five seats filled and has been functioning as a five-member board for a while. There are a total of seven seats on the board.
Mohr was appointed to a three-year term.
Chief George Gillenwater presented the annual report for the Rockingham Police Department and the RO will have more on that in a later story.
During the public comment period, Gerard Morrison spoke about Black history in the county and state.
Mayor Pro Tem Denise Sullivan presided over the meeting as Mayor John Hutchinson was out of town.
