Middletown Weighs Relaxing Backyard Chicken Ordinances

Chickens walking around. Credit: Georgianna Sutherland/Spotlight PA

The Middletown Township Board of Supervisors are considering changes to the current ordinances that would allow residents to keep backyard chickens on smaller properties than the current 5-acre minimum requirement.

The talk of potential changes come after years of requests from residents and a noticeable increase in interest since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The supervisors took no action during the meeting, and Supervisor Chairperson Mike Ksiazek said the governing body should take more time to consider the issue.

Currently, Middletown Township’s ordinances classify chickens as an agricultural use and limit them to properties of at least five acres in low-density residential zoning districts.

Building and Zoning Director Jim Ennis presented options to the supervisors last week and outlined potential modifications that would bring the township’s rules more in line with neighboring municipalities.

“Chickens are treated as an agricultural use,” Ennis said. “They are only allowed in the low-density residential zoning districts, primarily the residents are agricultural zoning districts, the R1, the R2, and the R3. Even furthermore, you need a minimum lot size of 5 acres to even have a chicken.”

Ennis, who has submitted a memo detailing his ideas to the supervisors, noted that the township’s zoning enforcement officials have found Middletown Township’s current requirements to be more restrictive than those in nearby communities like Falls and Northampton townships, which have updated their ordinances to be more open to backyard chickens.

Ennis said that higher-density zoning districts with smaller lots could allow chickens through a special exception approval process.

The process would require applicants to appear before the Middletown Township Zoning Hearing Board, notify neighbors, and allow for public input.

Supervisor Amy Strouse said she had some reluctance about routing applications through the Zoning Hearing Board.

“I’m similarly reluctant to encourage this to flow through the Zoning Hearing Board. I actually tend to think we send too much through the Zoning Hearing Board already,” she said. He suggested exploring “some sort of paper-based application process where you notify the neighbors, you have to look at the lot size, and then they get a stamped approval for six chickens or whatever it is.”

Enforcement remains a concern for Ennis’ office.

The township frequently receives complaints about chickens being kept illegally on properties that do not meet the 5-acre requirement, he said.

“We definitely get a call the minute that someone gets a chicken,” Ennis said, but he noted a slight decrease in complaints this year.

While mentioning possible changes, Ennis did caution that relaxing restrictions could lead to an increase in unpermitted chicken-keeping.

Enforcement currently involves code enforcement officers responding to complaints and requiring violators to remove chickens or seek a variance.

Ennis said the township has had issues with “fecal matter and the rodent harborage” in cases of poor chicken-keeping practices.

Ennis told supervisors that any changes would likely strain township resources, including staff time for permitting, monitoring, and potential annual inspections.

“I still think it’s going to be a strain on your township resources, especially your staff,” Ennis said. “It already is, as far as through enforcement, but I think it’s still going to be as much so through the permitting if you were to allow them and also the monitoring and also some kind of annual inspection process.”

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