Help to get backyard chicken raising restrictions lifted in New Castle County Delaware

Currently in New Castle County, Delaware you can only raise chickens in your backyard if you have more than 1 acre of property. Mr. William Tansey has introduced Ordinance 09-974 (.pdf link) to ease restrictions on raising chickens in backyards of New Castle County. His reasonable change allows residents to raise up to 4 hens (no roosters) on property with at least 0.5 acres.

The council is set to vote on this ordinance change on Tuesday, Sept 8th, but many are already coming out against. We must change their minds. Please help me and your New Castle County neighbors by contacting your New Castle County Council member (click on their picture for contact info) by phone or e-mail today to tell them that you would like them to support this change.

I have included the e-mail that I am sending to every council member and their legislative aids below. I myself live in the 2nd district. Please feel free to use or modify my letter as needed.

Dear Councilmember (insert member name here),

Mr. William Tansey has introduced Ordinance 09-974 to ease restrictions on raising chickens in backyards of New Castle County. His reasonable change allows residents to raise up to 4 hens (no roosters) on property with at least 0.5 acres. I stand in full support of this reasonable rule regarding raising chickens in a suburban environment and I hope that you will support this change by voting for it at the next council meeting on September 8th.

In a state on the Delmarva peninsula, historically known for raising poultry, it is unfortunate that residents of New Castle County currently have such a restrictive ordinance preventing them from participating in the chicken raising tradition and allowing them to grow some of their own food. New Castle County also has the chance to join other forward looking communities by your support of an easing of this restriction.

I urge you to support ordinance 09-074 to allow the raising of up to 4 hens on property with more than 0.5 acres. I will look forward to your response on this matter.

Sincerely,
Richard Koehler
New Castle County Constituent

Comment if you send an e-mail or make a phone call. I would really like to get this passed, for the reasons stated in the letter above.

Let Delawareans have their Blue Hens!










List of council members, e-mail, office phone, legislative aids, e-mail and phone (all 302 area code below).

Council District	Name	E-mail	Office Phone
Council President	Paul G. Clark	pgclark@nccde.org	395-8340
CP Legislative Aid	Lynne Phifer	LPhifer@nccde.org	395-8360
1st District	Joseph Reda	jmreda@nccde.org	395-8341
1st Legislative Aid	Christine Roberts	croberts@nccde.org	395-8361
2nd District	Robert S. Weiner	rsweiner@nccde.org	395-8342
2nd Legislative Aid	Louis Hinkle	lhinkle@nccde.org	395-8362
3rd District	William Tansey	wtansey@nccde.org	395-8363
3rd Legislative Aid	Nellie Manlove	nmanlove@nccde.org	395-8363
4th District	Penrose Hollins	phollins@nccde.org	395-8344
4th Legislative Aid	Nique Traylor	ntraylor@nccde.org	395-8364
5th District	Lisa Diller	ediller@nccde.org	395-8345
5th Legislative Aid	Renee Bensley	rbensley@nccde.org	395-8365
6th District	William Powers	wepowersjr@nccde.org	395-8346
6th Legislative Aid	Ruby Dillmore	rdillmore@nccde.org	395-8366
7th District	George Smiley	gsmiley@nccde.org	395-8347
7th Legislative Aid	Tara Finnigan	tfinnigan@nccde.org	395-8367
8th District	John Cartier	jjcartier@nccde.org	395-8348
8th Legislative Aid	Christina Bloemendaal	ctbloemendaal@nccde.org	395-8368
9th District	Timothy Sheldon	tpsheldon@nccde.org	395-8349
9th Legislative Aid	Stephanie Rizzo		395-8369
10th District	Jea P. Street	jpstreet@nccde.org	395-8350
10th Legislative Aid	Charneece Jackson	cljackson@nccde.org	395-8370
11th District	David Tackett	dltackett@nccde.org	395-8351
11th Legislative Aid	Susanne Hussey	shussey@nccde.org	395-8371
12th District	Bill Bell	jwbell@nccde.org	395-8352
12th Legislative Aid	Joseph A. Cochran	jacochran@nccde.org	395-8372