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I have some good news. I was able to consult with a lawyer who gave me some very good pointers regarding getting grandfathered in or that they must have some kind of special use permit. After that I called the 'Senior Zoning Administrator' and he was actually very friendly and helpful. He told me what I have to request in order to be 'granted' to keep my chickens/ducks (compared to the code enforcement inspector I spoke to on Thursday, she said there is nothing I could do). So there is hope once I submitt the request and a statement that he will permit me to keep my brood at least for the next month I am safe and I will keep you all posted on the outcome.

Thank you for all of you that responded with support, ideas and info. (kw I will still get through the 8 hours of videos they are very eyeopening even if I am only a legal U.S. resident not a U.S. citizen I very much appreciate the true foundation on which the U.S was built on.

Blessings to you all.
sevenrays

Well, that's great news. I'm happy for you, and you have my prayers!

kw

Just an update and info that I received from a free consultation with a lawyer and various other individuals I talked about regarding my issues with the Town Zoning Compliance. Maybe this will help someone in the future when confronted with a similar situation.

First, these are some pointers the lawyer had for me,:
The State of Arizona has it’s own constitution which entitles a municipality to zone as they feel fit.
However, he said, if the zoning codes changed since you have moved onto that property, yet you have had that kind of activity going on since before the change of the codes and were not prohibit under the old codes and you haven’t stopped for a long period (every municipality has different ‘abandonment of use’ timeframes, for this town it’s 1 year) you tell them you want to be Grandfathered in or get a special permit to continue the raising of chickens/ducks. If the Town says no there is no such thing and I could not request this I was to tell them to show me in the zoning codes the article that prohibits to be grandfathered in or receive a special permit. If they cannot produce such article then I have the right for such provision.

With this information I talked with the Senior Zoning Administrator and said I consulted a lawyer who told me I could request to be grandfathered in or receive a special permit. There must be some provisions that would allow me to continue raising my fowl. The administrator was very nice and referred me to the section in the codes and that I would need to make a request to him to review the status of non-compliance usage of the property. It was a bit tricky since that codes was about the abandonment of such activity and the letter had to formulated the right way. (see attached letter)

Next, the administrator was going to forward to code compliance that he had the case on his desk and not to go forward with the inspection. However it is always good to be prepared for ALL scenarios. I had been told be various people and the lawyer that I did not need to consent to letting the inspector on my property. Even if he came with the police and forced himself in, state ‘I do not consent you entering my home/property’. One lady who had a case of her trespassing on her property by another individual was actually told by the court she didn’t have enough ‘no trespassing’ signs up. She had one to the left and one to the right of the house, but that is not enough. You have to have at least a 3rd one up at the front of the yard or driveway where your property begins. Since this all started I had one sign to the left and one to the right.

September 26th the inspection was suppose to occur but no one showed up. I thought I would be ok to still get the 3rd. sign the next day. Mind you as I come home from picking up that 3rd sign, I see from the distance the inspectors truck in front of my house and sure enough he is walking around in my front yard to the left and to the right. I waited until he was gone before pulling up to my home and put up the 3rd sign (see attachment) Unlike the other two that only say “Private Property No Trespassing”, this one is a bit stronger in its words. The gal at Wal-Mart explained to me with this wording any trespasser can be prosecuted under the criminal trespass law, not just under the regular ‘lighter’ trespass law. The following day, Thursday September 28th, sure enough, the inspector came back (I guess he never did get the message from up the ladder) this time he didn’t even get out of his truck. He saw the sign and read it, then drove off.

The Town employees are off Fridays so I was safe over the weekend not to be bothered. The Senior Zoning Administrator has 30days to review and either will grant or deny my request.

Finding info on-line, getting it from a lawyer to the gal at Wal-Mart, and everything in between. This truly has been like solving a puzzle. The inspector would need to get a search warrant from a judge, everyone doubts a judge would ever really do that. I still want to request all the info about the complaint etc. from the Town to have in my files just in case. I do have the right to know this according to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) plus I am allowed to face my accuser should this have the remote chance of going to court. (If I get fined it would be like a traffic ticket for a civil violation and I have the right for a hearing. (I pray though it will not come to this and I do get the official ok to be grandfathered in)

Thank you for reading this all, I know this was long and it could have probably been written shorter but it also was kinda like therapy for me to put it all down since this was very traumatic for me. I felt very violated by just living a lifestyle that is more sustainable, conscious and healthy. (Now let me see if I can get the letter and picture of sign in here too)

sevenrays

Sevenrays, I am SO cheering for you! Good work!

Good luck! And it sounds like you're almost there... just a little more red tape and your feathered friends will be permanent residents

Ha, just realized the letter I attached was just the draft so not what I actually sent to the Zoning Administrator. Here is the one I sent, again, just incase someone needs this type of info at a later date.

sevenrays

Great job Sevenrays!!!

That is exactly how you do it. Short letter states the relevant facts concisely, cites the applicable code sections, and clearly states what you are asking the administrator to do for you. You do a nice job of showing how the facts support the decision you want in relation to those codes.

Excellent work posting those signs too! This is what we have to do to protect our Constitutional rights.

Thank you for sharing your story!

Michael

It is official, I get to keep my duckies and chickens. No neighbors complaint or town inspectors can take them away. The senior zoning administrator notified me today with a 3 page letter of cited codes and rules bla bla bla... and at the end determined I can continue to raise up to 25 fowl on my lot YEAHHHHHHH

sevenrays,

CONGRATS!!!!


fan-frikken-tastic!!!! yeehaw !!!

kw

Yea!!! I bet most people just bow to the notice and don't go through the rigamarole that you did.