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Wednesday, February 20, 2013

My 4 chickens in the Journal News today

My little chicken saga is graduating from the local papers to the county wide paper, reported by Robert Ryser.
Don't forget to get your Journal News copy today and share the story of backyard chickens and our human right and patriotic duty to homestead on our properties no matter how teeny tiny they are.  (mine isn't teeny tiny)
Write to your towns boards and make sure your right to grow food and keep chickens is not being suppressed. 
If you missed the article in the Lewisboro Ledger last week, the link is in the letter below. 

With warm regards

Pauline Schneider, MA Edu.
District Manager
Independent Consultant
Arbonne International
ID#: 12862130
Transition Westchester Core team member
(914)886-8506

Want to learn more about my business?
Discover Arbonne with ENVP Iain Pritchard

SWISS FORMULATED • BOTANICALLY BASED • GREEN •
HYPOALLERGENIC • TOXIN-FREE
ANTI-AGING | SKIN CARE | COSMETICS | NUTRITION | WEIGHT LOSS |
DETOX, CARBON NEUTRAL, MADE IN AMERICA












On Feb 16, 2013, at 10:18 AM, PAULINE SCHNEIDER <paulineschneider4@gmail.com> wrote:

Two Must Reads! 
In case you're all wondering Chickens are hot and sexy these days. 

And the hearing was also on the cover the Bedford Record Review which does not have an online page (?) that I can share.  

The ultimate legal question is this: does my not being able to keep chickens devalue my home?
Would I not be able to keep my home if I cannot keep chickens?  Of course not. Hence I cannot keep my chickens. 

It is a legal question, therefore "valid",  albeit a ridiculous one.  Who has asked anyone if their ability to keep dogs
or cats on their property would alter the value of their homes? Or send them into poverty? 
Yet dogs and cats are a constant nuisance to neighbors and the ecosystem, barking, toxic poop, killing endangered birds,
attracting rats with their poop and bowls of food and water.  There's a great billboard in the Bedford Town building showing a 
picture of a man with his dog pooping into our drinking water, a reminder of how toxic dog poop is. 
However, not a soul would lift a finger to ban them from our midst or create dog & cat free zoning, because losing these members of our families would
harm our quality of life.  

Therefore the question should be about Quality of Life issues.  Where I pay my taxes and live and raise my children,
and choose to set roots down is important to me and to the quality of life I give my family. 
If I cannot pursue my happiness, as dictated by the Constitution, due to arbitrary rules, then my quality of life is diminished. 
When quality of life is diminished in an area, people notice and want to avoid that area. THEN property values plummet. 

I have lived in  a few countries and a few states,  and this town is a pretty nice place to set roots. 
Most of the folks here, especially the life long Katonah folks, the heritage folks I call them, are terrific. 
In the past 18 years that I've lived here I've seen MANY people think the same thing and now it's getting harder
to park in downtown Katonah. Many of the newcomers are from the city looking for a more quiet, rural lifestyle.
And many have come to keep chickens among other animals, or just grow food, like David & Meg Lynnes who moved here from the city. 
At least six professionals that I know keep their own chickens in Bedford and Katonah legally, among them my daughter's dentist and orthodontist. Many more are renegades like myself but with more tolerant, enlightened neighbors who find roaming chickens and ducks a pleasure, not a nuisance. 

Who from the city will want to move to the quaint, semi rural, walking community of Katonah if they hear 
quality of life is being diminished?  Many city dwellers contemplate moving here for the country life as well as the schools. 
I made a decision to buy a home here 18 years ago because I believed this town was more progressive and that I could 
keep chickens on my property and grow food. Seven years ago I moved into the village of Katonah to continue that dream. 
I paid over half a million for my 1/3 acre, a steep price anywhere! And the market crashed a couple weeks later. "sigh"
 At the other end of the spectrum is Chappaqua, which is now keeping people away because of their ten acre rule.
  How many real estate brokers get asked "can we keep chickens in Bedford?" and are told they can, 
only to discover the sordid truth that even if you have five acres, if you are in quarter acre zoning,
your disgruntled neighbor with a beef will destroy your dreams.  

 My 15 year old daughter is devastated at the thought of losing our four chickens. 
She would like to move to a different town. However, moving away is just as economically prohibitive as moving here. My two adult children cannot ever dream of affording to live here again, the cost of property is so very high and the taxes are prohibitive.  
 I had a choice between two properties to purchase seven years ago and had I known that the other one would have been a legal chicken zone, I would have moved there on Cherry st. Even though the cost was slightly higher. 
For me, there was never any question of not living in Katonah. 
I have claimed this town as my home after living a mostly nomadic life. I've made deep friendships here and believe in this community.
Like I've said before, you're all stuck with me.  But be assured if you ever need me to, I will fight for you.  

Throughout this ordeal I have been shocked, I have been angry, I have been determined, I have been patient,
I have been understanding and I have been calm and forgiving.   But today was the first time I was actually sad and wept as 
I cared for my four feathered girls. They will have to go in April because rules are not about people or quality of life, but just about rules.  
That has to change. And anyone of you who knows me, knows I don't give up easily.  I've seen civil war, I've seen coups,
 & I've lived in Texas.  You can't throw anything worse at me than that.  Even arbitrary, outdated town rules. Which can be changed. 

Shame on people for making the world harder than it needs to be. 

Here's how a young girl fought the odds of a cruel world and won with the help of chickens. Because chickens rule. 


hugs

Pauline Schneider, MA Edu.
District Manager
Independent Consultant
Arbonne International
ID#: 12862130
Transition Westchester Core team member
(914)886-8506

Want to learn more about my business?
Discover Arbonne with ENVP Iain Pritchard

SWISS FORMULATED • BOTANICALLY BASED • GREEN •
HYPOALLERGENIC • TOXIN-FREE
ANTI-AGING | SKIN CARE | COSMETICS | NUTRITION | WEIGHT LOSS |
DETOX, CARBON NEUTRAL, MADE IN AMERICA











On Feb 9, 2013, at 6:04 PM, PAULINE SCHNEIDER <paulineschneider4@gmail.com> wrote:

Happy Nemo day! 
Thank you to everyone who was able to come out on Wednesday night to show support for keeping chickens. I will try to keep this brief and just give a general outline of what took place and some highlights,
and what the next steps are.   I hope I don't mutilate this. 

There were some fantastic friends who showed up to speak on my behalf, John Metaxas, Michele Du Rivage,
and the indomitable Zak Shusterman whose intimate knowledge of law, chickens and science 
shone a light into a room filled with dim… oh sorry.  
Many more friends came to give moral support and to get an idea of how to proceed for other towns and their
citizens' struggles to reclaim their human right to produce food in their own backyards.  
Including, from Ossining, the ever loyal and determined, John Bell of Transition Westchester, from Bedford,
 the noble and brave Food Bank farmer, Doug De Candia, from Lewisboro, the fierce and wise, Lewisboro board member, Dan Welsh, and formerly from the Bronx, my trusty and lovable sweetie, Sonny who recorded every word.
I will also not forget to mention that Reece Alvarez from Lewisboro Ledger was there, also officially documenting the event.  Thank you Reece!  My letter here will not be as objective as yours. ;) 

I know many supporters could not make it and they sent either their heartfelt words of good luck or their letters of support. Thank you!  A shout out to the Cadley's whose home caught fire and have been displaced but Kyle was sweet enough to ask how the hearing went.  Kyle and Thom's lovely letter of support is part of the appeal record. 
I miss hearing the boys outside playing and Benji hiding under the bushes. They are the only ones who have a direct view of my full yard and the chicken tractor.   

Now to the hearing:
Perhaps the most important part of the hearing was the fact that because there were only three
members present I had the right to adjourn until a full board would be available and that date is
April 3rd.  David Lyness, my next door neighbor, and former gardening buddy, 
who reported my chickens , was distressed that he would not find satisfaction or resolution until then and that I would be able to keep my chickens that entire time.  The board explained to him that I had the right to be heard by
a full panel (groan I have to do this all over again) and I could ask to adjourn.   Which I did. 

The way the law works is if I do not remove my chickens myself, I will be given a fine…
Which, I would like people to know is not a small one, but well worth the cost of keeping my girls
safe with me rather than sending them off to an unsecured coop where foxes and raccoons easily
can get into.  My coop is impenetrable.  Contrary to what David told our neighbors, my first
group of hens were not all killed when they were attacked because of my carelessness one night
when I failed to close the door on the coop trusting only in the electric wire.  That is not going to
happen again. 

Although I very quickly decided, upon speaking with the board, that I would adjourn 'till April, 
I asked if it would be okay to present my case since there were so many disgruntled neighbors
present.  Attached is the short speech I made to present my cause. The board was most gracious and
kind and allowed me that time. After which the floor was opened to comments.  In hindsight, I am also grateful to the other folks waiting their turn for their variance hearings who had to sit through it all.   Thanks! 

There were comments from:
 2 new neighbors in back of my home one of whom I had just met recently during the Sandy storm; 
from older neighbors down the street, 
and from long time neighbors  who live over a block away. 
In total 5 neighbors spoke against my 4 chickens.  Four of whom never spoke to me before about their 
displeasure nor contacted me when I sent out the hearing letter with my phone number, a failure on their part to communicate. 

  One of two newest neighbors was concerned with diseases like Salmonella flowing uphill to their 
yard (please review Newtonian physics), or that their children will somehow be sickened by the chickens through the board fencing, the other neighbor worried that their dog will bark at the chickens through the fence, which he doesn't do because our yards are not adjacent.  The older neighbors were concerned with the influx of rats into the neighborhood and agreed with David Lyness that the chicken feed was the culprit attracting the rats.  One neighbor who lives over an acre away was convinced the mice and rats she had in her home were from the four chickens in my backyard because she is a very clean housekeeper. 
David's evidence that the rats were brought by the chicken feed was that there were no rats present
last year that he knew of and that he had a great harvest from his veggies he grew that year. Then this year 
there were rats and they ate the harvest. Indeed, we all saw rats and they were not hungry because
of the presence of food in every back yard with bird feeders, water bowls, pet food bowls and veggie
gardens.  In fact one board member asked David Lyness if it was his garden that had possibly attracted the rats,
not the chicken feed.  David was confident he was right because he grew up on a farm and knew about rats
because he never saw any on his parents' farm.  (highly suspicious comment)  He also blamed my two quail and bunny who I normally keep indoors but put out in the garage for the summer to get some fresh air. I've had these three pets for a few years, since before David and Meg Lyness moved to Katonah. The rabbit was my son's. 
The quail were hatched for a homeschool project over two years ago. 

I had seen the influx of rats also but was lucky not to have any get into my home. I am also a clean housekeeper,
and I keep a tight ship.  Rodents can slip through 1/2 inch openings.  I worked hard on keeping any openings sealed.
It was after reading about rats that I realized the strange holes in the front yard that had always been there were very likely rat holes.  I had always thought they were woodchuck dens, which they may well have been these last years. Last summer between three neighbors something like 18 woodchucks were caught and removed leaving their dens open for rats to take over.  Repelents are advised to pour in these dens to keep out new occupants.  http://www.bugspray.com/articles99/woodchucks.html
Primarily I suspected the warm, dry winter and spring drought were the main culprits because the stream
where the rats had always lived had pretty much dried up.  When I first moved to the neighborhood seven years
ago I had been told that years ago when there'd been a drought the rats had moved into the neighborhood.
It happened again this summer and unfortunately as a coincidence I had 4 chickens to take the blame
for the climate.   Lucky me. 
 I spoke with Peter Zander and David about the rats and we agreed the best thing to do
was use plaster of paris bait because of the all the pets around.  David and I should have recruited all the neighbors
to engage in rat control behavior because as the NY Department of health has noted (see attached link),
controlling rats is a community effort. As long as there are filled and spilling over bird feeders, pet food
bowls and water, unguarded veggie gardens, stacked piles of wood and lumber, garbage pails with 
open bottoms, and more, rats will find an easy niche to settle into.  We have not seen any rats since
October.  Someone said they had not seen any since December. 
The plaster of paris bait is still out in a  rat accessible location and it has not been touched in months, whereas before it had to refilled almost every day. David admitted he ended up using DCon on the rats.  In October when I found a dead rat on my porch, I immediately called the Cadleys, my other next door neighbors (and supportive) to alert them to watch their cat. Last month I found the D-Con bait slipping under my fence and onto my property from David's yard. 

So, rats were the big thing that drew out the opponents. A few of whom who did not know me very well were rude to me, whereas the folks who know me better were kinder and even apologetic. Thanks!

Now for the Supporters who came and spoke:
Michele Du Rivage spoke in support of backyard chickens and, as a very long term resident of Katonah,
noted that there have always been rats in Katonah and for no obvious reasons that she could tell, but that
she has always seen them down in the village and up on Huntville near KES where she lived for
several years. She thought it was odd people were suddenly noticing them and blaming chickens. 
Michele is a dear friend of the past four years, previously an acquaintance for two or three years. 

Then Zak Shusterman, of Sleepy Hollow, stood and very eloquently pointed out that he has had chickens for many years, though not a resident of Bedford. He said that most people would visit his chickens and bring their
children to see them and that one child actually did a science project of studying his chickens, that the chickens
were actually fun for most people to see.  
He pointed out that he had a science background and that correlation does not necessarily mean connection (something we learn studying research methods), that there could be many other unknown causes attracting
the rats and not necessarily the chicken feed. ( I mentioned some of the possible reasons above) He's had chickens for many years and has never had rats.  
I had never met Zak before Wednesday.  He's a new friend I definitely want to keep. 

Finally John Metaxas spoke to the issue of taxes and economics and was upset that the appeals board felt that despite my well documented and thorough report (their words-yes they were impressed), that because I could not show financial hardship over losing the chickens, that it was not likely that they could help me. The use variance is, as they said, a very difficult variance to get.  He pointed out how in this economy with all the talk about
taxes and trying to help people and with politics getting in the way, that there were actually things they could do
and yet they seemed to choose not to do and instead claim their hands were tied because I could not
show financial hardship upon the loss of my 4 girls.    
He was very sweet to speak up for me, my dear friend and fellow Greek. 

Please pass on to everyone who supports sustainable local food, just as the 2010 Bedford Climate Action Plan says it wants to encourage more home food production in the interest of reducing our carbon footprints and increasing sustainability. pg 77. www.bedfordny.info/html/pdf/green/2009 Climate Action Plan Final.pdf

In conclusion the next step is to take this to the community and to the Bedford Planning board to 
begin the hard work of amending the code to the way it used to be when people had chickens in Katonah and no one blinked about it.   There are many folks in the 1/4 acre zone who would love to have a small flock of four
hens but the atomic age/petroleum civilization based codes are keeping them from doing so. 

Not everyone wants chickens, just like not everyone wants dogs or cats.  But for those of us who DO want to,
 it is our human right to reclaim the ability to keep chickens whose eggs are perhaps the most nutrient rich food and the most easy to control for safety.   With the fears of GMOs, GEs, mercury and lead in sea food, PCBs in dairy,
BPA in cans and packaging Bisphenol A - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, food borne diseases from
big agricultural factories (where salmonella is the real danger), meat packing plants (e-coli), and the prevalence of Human growth hormones and antibiotics, not to mention the absolutely cruel conditions animals are forced to endure, keeping a small flock in the yard is not only our human right, it's a act of food security. 
And chickens really are fun pets to have. And their poop is clean and non-toxic.  Dogs and Cats poop is considered toxic. 

I just reached out to Bedford 2020 and to our honorable and terrific Supervisor Lee Roberts. 
Let's see what we can do together to make Katonah & Bedford  sustainable, strong and superior!
My biggest pet peeve with the way the code is drafted is that it restricts residents who may not be 
able to afford 1/2 acre homes (my 1/3 acre in 1/4 acre zone was over half a mil to buy), and so it discriminates against anyone who is not part of the 2% wealthy community.      This is not a good thing in a town with one of 
the highest tax rates in the USA. And definitely not a good thing in an economy that is still struggling to come back for most Americans who are not part of the 2%.  Much as I admire Martha Stewart, she will never have to
worry about this issue on her 300 or so acres in Katonah.  (I may be exaggerating her acreage)
FYI, I've lived here longer than her.  :) 
 

Cheers everyone! 

<MY CHICKEN STATEMENT.docx>





Pauline Schneider, MA Edu.
District Manager
Independent Consultant
Arbonne International
ID#: 12862130
Transition Westchester Core team member
(914)886-8506

Want to learn more about my business?
Discover Arbonne with ENVP Iain Pritchard

SWISS FORMULATED • BOTANICALLY BASED • GREEN •
HYPOALLERGENIC • TOXIN-FREE
ANTI-AGING | SKIN CARE | COSMETICS | NUTRITION | WEIGHT LOSS |
DETOX, CARBON NEUTRAL, MADE IN AMERICA










On Jan 30, 2013, at 3:10 PM, PAULINE SCHNEIDER <paulineschneider4@gmail.com> wrote:

Just a quick reminder to all my beautiful friends. Next week is the day! 
Public Hearing of the Bedford Planning Board
 Feb 6th 6:30 at the Bedford Town House on Cherry st. 
NOT the court house. ;) 

I will be presenting my case for a variance to keep backyard chickens in 1/4 acre zoning. 
No matter what happens with the planning boards decision, I will then work to get the code amended 
so no one else has to be humiliated for breaking the code, be a renegade (it is fun though to say "I am a renegade"),
or pay a $300+ variance application fee to keep four bloody chickens in their back yard.  

I'm both nervous and excited.  Please wish me luck and come! :)   
And share this with friends who are interested in raising their own chickens!  It is our human right to grow and raise food! 


hugs!!!

Pauline 



Below is part of the document I turned in to the Board for the application for the variance. 
<PastedGraphic-1.pdf>

ZONING BOARD APPEAL REQUEST FOR USE VARIANCE FOR PAULINE SCHNEIDER,

PLOT 55, 19 SOUTH RD, KATONAH, NY. 10536 

Claims for Hardship TO BE EXPERIENCED UPON REMOVAL OF 4 HENS

Following are itemized conditions that improve the schneider family's quality of life and THAT would be compromized without a USE variance (or zoning amendment for entire town-J) alowing 

1. COST

The tractor coop is 8x4 ft.  with solar powered electric wire at a cost of $2944.75 .  This is a highly specialized and unique coop that has a small footprint and is very easy to use, rodent proof, predator proof and user friendly. Incredibly easy to clean and move.   It is able to house up to six chickens.  It would be hard to find someone to purchase it from me since there are much cheaper, though inferior models on the market.

I (Pauline) researched a long time before I ran into Nan Zander at the John Hay Farmers Market two summers ago where she was showing a coop with ducks and chickens in it.  I saved up until I could afford it.  Chickens need to be a certain age to start laying properly, and they are all still too young.  Losing them now, after investing time and money and love, before they've even started laying properly, would be a huge loss economically and nutritionally. 

http://www.mypetchicken.com/catalog/Chicken-Coops/Front-Yard-Coop-up-to-6-chickens-p955.aspx


2. INCREASED FOOD SAFETY & NUTRITION

"the eggs from your own backyard flock are probably the safest eggs you can eat. When you keep your own birds, you can personally monitor their health, and you can control what feed they eat and the conditions they live in. You can see when they may need medical attention, and you can provide it. Salmonella outbreaks at factory farms are another reason to keep your own hens. When you know anything about factory farms, you realize that the surprising thing here is not that there is an occasional outbreak; the surprising thing is that there aren't many, many more. "

3. SUSTAINABILITY & ECOLOGY

I use no petroleum based fertilizers or pesticides. Chickens provide natural fertilizer and eat Lyme infected Deer ticks & slugs, and grubs, keeping costs low, pests controlled and my lawn green. They eat kitchen scraps and leftovers that have sat too long. They naturally & quickly compost food that would have gone into a compost bin and sat much longer composting. Chickens return the natural bio-ecology and nutrients to soils long depleted these past 50 years by petroleum based gardening methods

EDUCATION

4. Ten thousand years ago humans domesticated the chicken and this is the first time in human history that we have actively worked to exclude these precious members of our communities from our lives.  I live on 1/3 acre and believe that sustainability begins at home, that everyone has the right to be sustainable and self sufficient no matter what their income, acreage or zoning.

I have been a gardener since the age of 13 when I lived in Greece.  I am now a Landscape Designer, a NYSED certified teacher and dedicated to teaching adults and children sustainable living practices.  I volunteer for the NGO Transition Westchester and have taught beginning gardening and other sustainable practices. Learning to raise chickens is an important part of my work in educating myself and my community to reclaim our human heritage and culture of raising and growing our own food in our backyards. 98% of us are not part of the 2% society, therefore it is vital that urban and suburban farming/homesteading  are embraced by our society once more as a means of ameliorating the effects of economic decline, climate change and peak oil/energy crisis.  Teaching people about sustainable practices is critical.  As an industrial culture we have lost centuries of knowledge that was the mainstay of daily life and critical for our survival.  I was recently asked how chickens could lay eggs if there was no rooster, if eating the fresh eggs was safe, and what I did with all of the chicken poop.  These questions illustrate how far we have fallen away from basic understanding that even our grandparents knew and how important it is to once again make available this knowledge in the most accessible conditions, which is in our backyards.  It is vital that I am able to remain a viable connection and resource to individuals desiring to learn more about sustainable practices that include growing and raising their own food.  Losing these four hens would make that harder for me to share my personal knowledge and to learn through experience how to care for them.

5. COMMUNITY BUILDING IS MY WORK

Building community through education and outreach in sustainable projects helps make stronger human connections, healthier towns and happier citizens. Growing and raising food is ideal for community building and results in sharing best practices and exchanging knowledge & ideas. DAVE JACKE (center), permaculturist & co-author of two volume educational text books, Edible Forest Gardening, gives a backyard workshop in a client's Edible Forest project in Putney Vermont. People like me (Pauline Schneider) paid a fee & traveled hours to participate in this community workshop on a private property. The SCHNEIDER property is an Edible Forest Garden in progress based on the fundamentals of Permaculture and Jacke's and Toensemeyer's Edible Forest Garden Volumes I and II. Animal livestock such as chickens are a vital part of the sustainable ecosystem, providing natural pest control and fertilizer, soil aeration and a fun backyard pet to entertain friends and neighbors with. People often visit my home just to see the gardens and chickens. Losing the four hens would be a detriment to the natural horticultural methods I use and teach others to use through visits to my home

6. MENTAL HEALTH

It is common knowledge that pets are key in improving emotional and mental health. The four chickens in question have names, Zelda, Chocoboco, Lucky and Lunch (my son has a sense of humor). They are our family pets that also happen to provide nutritious eggs. My 15 year old daughter, Anastasia, dotes on them. Nearly every day she asks me what I think will be the result of these efforts to convince the appeal board to let us keep our "girls". My boyfriend, Silvestro (Sonny) Rocchio, pictured at right, has also developed a close bond with the "girls" and checks on the coop every night to be sure it's locked up properly even after our reassurances that it has been.


REQUEST FOR VARIANCE OF AREA RESTRICTIONS IN ¼ ACRE ZONING,

To ALOW FOR THE KEEPING OF 4 CHICKENS.  See Application for % of building coverage and impervious surface.

PRECEDENT #1: Ducks with more than 12 fowl IN ¼ ACRE ZONE. NORTH STREET, Katonah. DUCK CROSSING  ZONE to warn drivers when ducks are in the street. Adds charm to Katonah

Precedent #2:

NYC CODE has no acreage or distance-from-neighbor restrictions. such restrictions discriminate against small property owners and reward WEALTHY AND/OR large land owners arbitrarily without any benefit to the whole community

BACKYARD COOP IN BROOKLYN. For FOUR HENS. Owned by Martha Lazar.   

http://www.brooklynfeed.com/tag/backyard-chickens/

http://www.tv4play.se/program/nyheterna?title=ny_trend_i_usa_hons_som_husdjur&video_id=2196083

NYC code also has no restrictions to the number of chickens owned. As long as there are no complaints regarding smells, noise, flies, rodents.  These are simply investigated if reported, the city trusts that its citizens will act responsibly.  NYC does not preemptively restrict its citizens from owning chickens in anticipation of problems.  If problems should arise, citizens are given the opportunity to correct them. Please see Just Food document below for further information.

http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/zoo/zoo-animal-healthcode.pdf


Chickens are clean and the coop is easy to keep clean. There is no health or safety risk to the neighborhood. 






Pauline Schneider, 
District Manager
Independent Consultant
Arbonne International
ID#: 12862130
Transition Westchester Core team member
(914)886-8506

Want to learn more about my business?
Discover Arbonne with ENVP Iain Pritchard

SWISS FORMULATED • BOTANICALLY BASED • GREEN •
HYPOALLERGENIC • TOXIN-FREE
ANTI-AGING | SKIN CARE | COSMETICS | NUTRITION | WEIGHT LOSS |
DETOX, CARBON NEUTRAL, MADE IN AMERICA









On Dec 30, 2012, at 12:20 PM, PAULINE SCHNEIDER <paulineschneider4@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi all!
First and foremost I want to wish everyone a happy new year, and a huge thank you for all your continued support! 
Without your words of encouragement, hope and love, it would be hard to sustain this "fight".  

We are all involved in various aspects of sustainability, community work and progressive restructuring of our society
with a positive vision of our collective future.  This work is often unrewarded, behind the scenes and volunteer.  
So with a deep-felt gratitude I write today to you all thanking you for your advice, your guidance, your literature, and your trailblazing
that has placed me in this position today, and I ask that if you are available, to please come to the public hearing of the 
zoning board of appeals on Wednesday, February 6th, 2013.  I believe these are usually held in the
evening starting around 6pm.   I will provide more specific times as we get closer to the date. 

To have you standing with me will show that having chickens as pets, and for all the other valuable resources they provide, is
a human right that many of us support.  

 After long consideration, I have decided NOT to provide a petition to my neighbors for their approval. 
Let me explain why not.   
Are we required to have our neighbors'  permission to have dogs or cats?  No, their ownership (or adoption as family members, a preferable perspective to me)
is regulated as it should be, to prevent individuals from poor behavior (mistreatment, uncleanliness, etc). 

We are NOT required to  get the approval of our immediate neighbors to have pets.   
Neither should we be required to have neighbors permission to have hens in our backyards.  If such hens become a nuisance in the same
way that a dog or cat might, noise, smells, invading neighbors' backyards, etc, THEN neighbors would have a right to complain to the pet owner. 
If such problems are not solved, then the neighbors would have a right to complain to the town. If problem is not solved, then a fine could be given. 
This is how this works now for our furry pets and could work just as easily for our feathered pets.   However, as the law stands, chickens are 
preemptively excluded.  

There was a question of rodents being just cause to prevent the ownership of chickens in suburban backyards. 
Let me say that Katonah has been a welcome home to rats for many decades and for as long as I have lived in Bedford, 
since 1995, I have always seen rats in Katonah.   Chickens do NOT bring rats, they are already here.   Excess feed laying around,
bird feeders, dog food and water bowls outside, vegetable gardens,  are ALL an easy source of nutrition for rats and these have always been a part
of our suburban neighborhoods.    Train stations also bring rats… 

When I moved into the Village of Katonah 6 years ago and purchased my home at 19 South rd I noticed rat holes all over my front yard but was not 
aware that these were rat holes, not having lived in an urbanized suburb before.  And I have lived on three continents, including Africa… 
I take offense at my chickens being blamed for the rats in my neighborhood.  Especially since anyone who has hung out long enough at
the Katonah train station around dusk has had the "pleasure" of the rat show there.  Reminds me of Central Park at dusk! 

Eliminating rat problems is a community effort and for anyone to claim that a single person (or four chickens) is not only to blame for rats being present, 
but is also responsible for eliminating the rat problem, then that person hasn't read the NY Health Department's guide on controlling rats.  See link . 

Finally the Vogler family on North Street has enjoyed many years of their dozens of  free range ducks in quarter acre zoning.   They even have a street sign to
warn drivers to slow down.  I am hoping that I will be able to convince the town to provide my four chickens a street sign as well!  Maybe I need a dozen 
chickens running out into the street to qualify for that?  ;) 


Thanks again and I hope to see many of your smiling faces on February 6th!  



Cheers! 



Pauline Schneider, 
District Manager
Independent Consultant
Arbonne International
ID#: 12862130
Transition Westchester Core team member
(914)886-8506

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On Nov 16, 2012, at 1:20 AM, PAULINE SCHNEIDER <paulineschneider4@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi everyone at the back yard, chicken meetup. 
First let me thank the folks who started this amazing meet up and everyone who keeps it alive and vibrant! 
Kudos! 

I'm reaching out for some advice and support as I'm about to venture into unexplored territory for me.  Defending my girls from stupid town code.
I know many of you have already engaged in this battle and might be able to send me some advice and guidance.  I'm hoping you can. 

I live in Katonah NY, a hamlet of the town of Bedford, one of the most expensive towns to live in in the USA. 
Our taxes truly bite…  But Katonah is a lovely, quaint, bedroom community of writers, teachers, scientists, electricians, plumbers, fire fighters, cops,
doctors, nurses, etc.  It's a beautiful cross section of America, Motherhood and Apple Pie; it's a town that was so loved by its original 
citizens, that 100 years ago when NYC decided to flood the valley it originally was in to provide water for NYC, the folks put their homes, 
churches and shops on oiled tree trunks and rolled them to this new location.   There is a lot of heart and grit here.  It's a great place to live and
set down roots and I've lived on three continents, I know it's worth fighting for. 
Katonah is recently most famous for Martha Stewart trying to steal its name to slap onto her furniture. It took a local citizens' lawsuit and even Chief Katoona's 
descendants to prevent her.  But I digress. 

I thought all my neighbors were great, I still do, which is why I was stunned today, Thursday, Nov 15th... 
  I've been living in the village 6 years, and the Town of Bedford for total of 18 years, and made many wonderful friends here.  And have amazing neighbors. 
But today I got a visit from the Town Code enforcer telling me someone complained about my 
animals.  I have four chickens, two California quail and a bunny, Mr Cornelius.   I also have Yorkies but the complaint didn't
extend to them… It was about the chickens… 
 Good news is that I can't even imagine who it could be because I get along with all my neighbors!  It's baffling.  And kind of sad. 
Somehow I have offended someone and they didn't come to me first.  

I live on almost 1/2 acre, but in 1/4 acre zoning and the zone fellow told me THAT was the problem, the zoning.  I read the code before purchasing my hens,
it was not specified clearly that acreage ZONING was the determinant.  I talked to folks who had fowl.  Only roosters were forbidden it seemed.  
So, according to what Mr Zone said, even if I had 5 acres but was in 1/4 acre zoning I would not be able to have any chickens.  It has to be 1/2 acre zoning or more
to be able to have 12 or less chickens.   Sounds ridiculous, right?   I'm sure all the other folks in Katonah and Bedford with many more ducks and chickens
than I have would agree that is ridiculous.    I asked him about the other chickens and ducks around town, he asked me "where are they? I'll find them."   
 Not someone you want over for a beer…     
The logic of the zoning is preposterous because if you were in a 1/2 acre of more zone but happened to have a grandfathered 1/4 acre lot, (we have them!)
you'd be able to have 12 chickens!…. 


 My 4 chickens are clean, healthy, happy free ranging birds cleaning up ticks and bugs that prey on
us all.   They are quiet and stay in my fenced in yard on my property.  They have names and one is a raccoon attack survivor, named Lucky. She had 
a terrific surgeon, the daughter of the family that built the coop and raised the hens, local folks.  Only one is old enough to lay yet and she gives us one
green egg a day.  Very sweet.  Her name is Zelda.  The other three are Sussex and I hear they take a bit longer to start laying.  Lucky has developed the
most beautiful white spattering on her neck feathers, Choco Bocco has very brown feet and Lunch is the most skittish of them all.  (my kids had a sense
of humor when naming them)
They have an electrified chicken tractor, state of the art, powered with a solar panel.  Keeps out the nasty raccoons
and foxes at night. 

 All the feed is in galvanized bins, secure from rats.  I don't give them more than they can eat that would sit around and attract rodents.
Because there are rats in the neighborhood, most likely attracted by all the bird seed feeders and vegetable gardens, I do know how important
it is to keep food cleaned up.  Chickens do a good job of that.  When they are hungry they will gobble everything up given to them. 
There is a stream nearby that went dry in the spring and that's when most of the rats started turning up, long before I got the four pullets and their chicken tractor. 
I'm pretty confident my 4 birds are not the source of the rat problem the neighborhood is experiencing.   
But apparently one person might think otherwise. 
It only takes one disgruntled neighbor.  But there have always been rats around, their holes have always been in the lawns for years.  I thought they were wood chuck holes!


I intend on fighting this on two fronts: 1. asking for a town variance (a neighbor just got one to extend onto their house) which could reveal the
disgruntled neighbor, and having expert witnesses show that 4 chickens on nearly 1/2 acre is sustainable, and not a threat to health, 
 and 2. In court, again with expert witnesses, and demanding my right as a citizen to have a small flock as pets, for education for my child and for sustainable, safe, organic eggs.  
I'd even be willing to just keep two chickens.  It's not very sustainable, but it's educational and it's SOMETHING!   I'm willing to collaborate & compromise. I'm not willing to cave. 

Has anyone had luck with this tack?  Or any other tack? 
Any suggestions? 

I am hoping to enlist my chicken raising & loving friends and neighbors (cc'd here) to serve as expert witnesses and moral support when I go to court.
Yeah, dude said "see you in court in a month."    Nice.   Like I was some crazy cat lady.  
I am an active Transition Town member,  http://www.transitionus.org/    so teaching and creating sustainability for us all is a prime focus of mine and backyard chickens is
one of the biggest ones that could make a huge difference for all our communities across the nation as the food system 
continues to collapse and the economy continues to falter. Having a couple backyard layers could mean the difference between a child becoming malnourished or thriving. 
Showing people how easy and fun it is to have a couple chickens requires having chickens.  
I am constantly amazed at the rigid and illogical ordinances in so many towns across the USA over chickens.
There was a time in this country when there were Uncle Sam posters imploring citizens to "recruit a chicken!"  What happened since WWI? 

I'm kind of excited that this has happened.  It could help open up chicken avenues for my friends in Chappaqua who need 10 acres for a small chicken flock!
At the very least, even if I lost,   it could bring attention to a serious violation of our rights as citizens to be in control of our food supply.  Unless we have vast swaths of land we must be willing
to eat salmonella tainted, cardboard tasting, pesticide ridden,  store bought eggs...    Talk about class warfare.  


All ideas and suggestions are welcome.  
And feel free to share this story far and wide. 

Thanks! 

Pauline Schneider, 








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