Fifty backyard chicken coop pilot applications now available
Applications for the 2021 Backyard Chicken Coop Pilot Project are now available. The two-year pilot project will allow for residents in residential areas to have chicken coops under certain conditions with a maximum of four chickens at any one time.
“Following direction from Council, staff have updated the Kawartha Lakes Animal By-law to permit the Backyard Chicken Coop Pilot Project to proceed,” said Aaron Sloan, manager of municipal law enforcement and licensing.
“This project will allow us to test backyard chicken coops in residential areas throughout the municipality over the next two years, so we can get a better sense of their viability and adjust the program as needed going forward.”
Backyard chicken coops are not permitted on all residential properties in Kawartha Lakes and there is a variety of criteria that needs to be met in order to get a license. Prohibited areas are determined based on one or more of the following criteria:
- Environmental Protection Area
- Conservation Authority Regulated Areas (Accessible in the map layers for viewing)
- Wellhead Protection Area
- Surface Water Intake Protection Area
- Floodplain
- Properties less than 0.5 acres
- Property not zoned as Residential
For more details on eligibility and to apply, go to the Backyard Chickens section under Animal Services. Online education is also recommended to all Backyard Chicken Coop applicants and can be found at Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and Chicken Farmers of Ontario.
Fifty backyard chicken coop licenses will be available until December 2021 and then in 2022 applications will open again for another fifty licenses.
