Who? What? Where? Why? When?

Alissa and Michael Manfre moved to Cary in spring 2008 and wanted to have chickens. After a quick search on MuniCode.com, we discovered to our disappointment that chickens (and all poultry) are expressly forbidden by the town.

Sec. 6-62. Chickens, ducklings, rabbits banned from sale; livestock, fowl and swine.

(a) Chickens, ducklings, rabbits banned from sale. It shall be unlawful for any person to sell or offer for sale, or permit to be sold or offered for sale, within the corporate limits of the town, baby chickens, baby ducklings, or baby rabbits less than six weeks of age; provided, this section shall not apply to hatcheries raising chickens or ducks expressly for the broiler market or for sale to farms.
(b) Livestock and domestic fowl prohibited. Livestock, and domestic fowl of all descriptions are prohibited in any area of the town except those areas zoned for agricultural purposes by the zoning ordinances.
© Swine prohibited. It is unlawful to maintain, keep or house pigs, hogs or other swine within the corporate limits of the town.
(d) Exceptions. Ponies, horses, mules or burros may be stabled within the town limits in areas not zoned for agricultural purposes provided that the stables are at least 300 feet from any residence and that not more than two animals are kept per residence and that not more than two animals are kept per acre of land, and in addition, that, if at any time in the future additional residences are erected less than 300 feet from said stables, the stables, ponies, horses, mules and burros shall be removed.

(Code 1982, § 4-10; Ord. No. 01-022, § 1, 11-8-2001)
State law references: Disposing of living baby chicks or other fowl, or rabbits under eight weeks of age as pets or novelties, G.S. 14-363.1.

We contacted animal control and subsequently the Cary Town Council. Our district representative Jack Smith stated that he would sponsor the discussion with the council and Gale Adcock seconded it. Jack Smith informed us that petitions and signatures were not needed for the first meeting since the council only planned on voting whether or not a committee should investigate this further. It was our mistake to follow his advice.

Renee Chou of WRAL ran a story, Cary to look at relaxing chicken ban, after this item was listed on the council agenda for July 24, 2008. A few days before the meeting, we heard about potential negative feedback sent to the council. In a last minute panic, I managed to convince a decent number of citizens to voice their support to the council. As Gale Adcock stated during the meeting, “I received 5 to 1 in support of this.”

At the meeting Alissa spoke very well and addressed every issue that were brought up to the council through email, without going over the 3 minute time limit. About 5-6 hours later when they made it to the agenda item, they ultimately voted 4-3 in favor of not investigating further. The three female council members voted for and the 4 male members voted no. Council member Don Frantz was very disrespectful and unprofessional during the discussion. He stated, “the only chickens I want to see in Cary are on my plate. I’m hungry.” With that and a few other unfounded or non-existent arguments, we have become angered and extremely motivated.

The three council members who were in support of investigating this further justified their reasons for the way they voted. The best was when Mayor Pro Term, Jule Robison responded “Yes, I would” to Ervin Portman’s question of “Would you get chickens?”

After the meeting, there has been a lot of support from others in the community who have contacted us through email. So I launched this site, set up the mailing list and will pursue this issue until the opposing council members raise a valid argument as to why this would be bad for the town.