NEWS

Lehigh man faces grim task when told he can't keep chickens

A new resident of Lehigh Acres pleaded with county commissioners Tuesday to adopt a backyard hen ordinance so others wouldn't face the grim task he must perform after being told his flock is illegal.

Bill Smith
BSMITH@NEWS-PRESS.COM
Lehigh resident Charles Edwards has been told by Lee County code enforcement that he can't keep chickens at his home in rural Lehigh Acres. He says his only choice is to kill the brood.,

In his single-family home on an acre lot in a remote northern part of Lehigh  Acres, Charles Edwards has been leading his own personal farm to table movement.

But the one-man sustainability movement suffered a blow in mid-April when a certified letter arrived from a county code enforcement officer, informing him to either get rid of his flock of seven chickens, or face fines of $250 per day.Breakfast is orange juice from his grove and spinach omelettes from the output of his backyard garden and his chicken coop.

"What I'm asking you for is change the zoning, not to allow roosters that make noise, just for some hens in the back yard," Edwards told Lee County commissioners during public comment period Tuesday.

"I'm not asking for free range for chickens, all I'm asking is some common sense," he said. "These chickens make no noise, you can't hear my chickens, they don't smell, they don't get in the neighbor's yard."

Lee County prohibits the keeping of domestic chickens. Bonita Springs initiated an experimental backyard chicken pilot program in 2012 and made it permanent last year. Fort Myers adopted its own two-year chicken experiment last year.

Board Chair Frank Mann, who represents Lehigh on the commission, said the region's community council considered the issue of backyard chickens but decided not to propose an ordinance change to the commissioners.

"Get back with the community council there and see if you can neutralize them or better yet, hear some kind of a positive expression as to what they would support in terms of chicken ordinances under certain circumstances,"  Mann said. "The problem in the past came because the chickens were close to their houses, there may be some way to craft this."

But offered no immediate answers to making his brood legal, and facing $250 per day in fines, Edwards left the commission chambers with a grim task ahead at his home on McArthur Avenue.

"These chickens have become more like pets to me," Edwards said. "Now I have to go kill my chickens because I can't find anyone that will take them."

RELATED: Reserve Now: Farm-to-Table lunch

RELATED: Pasture-raised eggs come to Publix stores