Riverhead drops proposal to ban roadside egg stands, roosters in residential areas 

Riverhead Town officials last week dropped a proposal to ban roadside egg stands and roosters in residential areas after residents cried foul.

Town officials had considered legislation to regulate domestic fowl in residential areas, citing “numerous” complaints over noisy roosters. The measure drew swift pushback from residents who said the law would conflict with the region’s agrarian roots and traditions.

"It generated conversation throughout the community and overwhelming support of the roosters," councilman Tim Hubbard said Friday.

Hubbard confirmed that the town will not pursue the code change, which would have prohibited residents from keeping roosters or more than 10 chickens in their backyard and selling eggs from backyard flocks and would have enacted setback requirements for chicken coops.

The legislation does not apply to farms or agricultural operations.

Maribeth Vail has kept a backyard flock of 35 chickens for nearly a decade, selling their fresh eggs in a cooler outside her Riverhead home for $4 a dozen.

She said Friday she's happy the town reversed course.

“It’s for the neighborhood; we’re not looking to make a fortune,” she said.

In her residential subdivision, Vail, 55, said it’s common for neighbors to sell their bounty of eggs, blueberries, tomatoes and cut flowers, though none are farmers.

“That’s what makes Riverhead a nice place,” she said. “You can stop on the side of the road and pick up whatever somebody has extra of.”

Hubbard said the issue was raised in response to noise complaints at a town meeting Oct. 26. 

The town’s code enforcement office has received about 18 complaints during the last two years, senior investigator Richard Downs said Thursday. He said additional calls come in via the town police department, which also responds to noise complaints.

In addition to noise, the proposed code aims to protect against vermin by requiring coops to be cleaned daily and feed to be stored in secured metal containers.

Jamesport resident Eileen Benthal spoke out against the proposal on behalf of her rooster, Goldie, who she said helps protect their flock by alerting the hens to potential predators.

Their backyard farm is a haven for her daughter, Johanna, 27, who was born with a rare neurological disease. Benthal said the eggs are a way for Johanna to connect with neighbors by giving them away, especially during the pandemic.

“We moved out here because we wanted a rural way of life,” Benthal said, adding that she is "relieved" the town has dropped the plan.

Other residents were concerned roosters would be abandoned along roads and in parks if the law passed. 

“The number of calls will be through the roof,” said Virginia Scudder of Aquebogue, who runs The North Fork Country Kids, an animal rescue that focuses on cats.

She said an uptick in pandemic chicken ownership resulted in an increase in calls she got to rescue roosters.

“I at one point had eight roosters that I was rehoming and caring for because people abandoned them,” Scudder, 49, said.

No other East End towns regulate backyard chickens. Roosters are currently banned in Brookhaven and Huntington.

Town supervisor Yvette Aguiar said Wednesday she did not support the proposed code change.

“We live in a farming community,” Aguiar said. “It’s too restrictive.”