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Huntington Station chickens run a fowl of town law

BY DEBORAH S. MORRIS | deborah.morris@newsday.com
9:15 PM EST, November 20, 2008

Why did the chicken cross the road in Huntington? It might have been an effort to hide from code enforcement.

For Tim Jurik of Huntington Station, that's no joke. For a year and a half, he and his wife, Jennifer, have been raising chickens in their Huntington Station backyard as a source of organic eggs.

"The birds are a lot healthier because they are eating what they are supposed to eat, like insects," Jurik said. "So the eggs they produce have a wonderful flavor. And they make great pets."

But the couple had no idea they were running a fowl of the law. In Huntington it is illegal to have poultry, cattle or mink on residential property.

"I read the town code and apparently I misunderstood the language," Jurik said as his five feathered friends clucked around his ankles on a recent cold afternoon. "But I'm not alone. There are others in Huntington raising chickens at home."

Last month Jurik received a notice of violation from the town. Someone had turned in photos to town officials of the fowl roaming in his yard.

Jurik, 38, a software designer, addressed the town board at a recent meeting and asked them to change town code to allow residents a restricted number of chickens.

Laure Nolan, deputy town supervisor, said the town is mulling the request.

"We have the town attorney researching what other municipalities are doing to come up with suggestions," she said.

Nolan said Huntington's code mirrors state agricultural law, which does not define chickens as domestic animals.

In the meantime, the town has advised Jurik to get a special use permit for his chickens. He said he is applying for one, but added that's a solution for only one family.

"Other people want to do it, too," he said.

He cited the health benefits for the couple's 18-month-old son, James, who has food allergies. Jurik said James benefits from the eggs his organic-pastured-raised chickens provide.

The birds, Jurik said, produce about a dozen eggs per week, none of which he sells.

Jurik said he has gathered about 28 signatures on a petition in support of allowing residential chickens and will continue to lobby the town to join other communities such as Burlington, Vt., and New York City that allow chickens on residential properties.

"We didn't mean to ruffle any feathers," Jennifer Jurik said. "We just want to have an opportunity to raise fresh food."

Tim Jurik cited one more benefit of allowing chickens on residential properties: basic zoology.

"Some of the questions, frankly, are scary," he said of people who have seen the chickens in his yard and asked what they were. "People don't know where their food comes from. Or even what it looks like."

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