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Vermiglio jokingly referred to herself as the “official chicken lady of Oakland County.”
Photo provided by Sarah Vermiglio
SOUTHFIELD — At its Feb. 10 meeting, Southfield City Council unanimously voted in favor of amending text in the city’s animal ordinance to allow for more backyard chickens and beekeeping on residential lots.
The amendment also provided clarity on enforcement requirements and authority.
Tom Paison, Southfield’s deputy city planner, explained that the ordinance text change came after almost two years of reviewing the Department of Agriculture’s guidelines, meeting with the legislative committee on council, and working with the animal warden officers at the Southfield Police Department.
“In October of ‘23, some residents came to a council meeting saying, ‘We looked at the rules that you have, and they’re really restrictive. There’s almost no way any of us can do this unless we have, like, 2 acres of land,’ which isn’t really realistic for most parts of the city. We went through the whole process of talking with those folks who were interested in talking with the Planning Commission and doing research on best practices,” Paison said.
At the Feb. 24 City Council meeting, the ordinance change was enacted and set to go into effect 10 days later, according to Paison.
According to Paison, under the former regulations, no permit/license was required to keep backyard fowl, there was no minimum lot size, no cap on the number of chickens that could be kept, and no feed storage requirements.
The minimum setback from off-site dwellings was 175 feet, 50 feet from on-site dwellings, and 5 feet from a property line, with no specific coop or run standard and no prohibition on roosters.
Under the new regulations, a permit/license is required, the minimum setback from off-site dwellings is 50 feet and the minimum setback from a property line is 20 feet. The maximum height for a coop is 8 feet, with the maximum size being 80 square feet.
Also under the new regulations, roosters are prohibited, as is slaughter. The maximum number of fowl allowed is 12 and feed storage must be inside a sealed vermin-resistant container.
Under the former regulations, beekeeping was allowed on farms with 10-plus acres and was not permitted elsewhere. Hive placement was not specifically regulated, and water supply near hives was not required.
Under the new regulations, the minimum setback for hives from off-site dwellings is 50 feet and the minimum stack from a property line is 20 feet.
Water supply is required near hives to avoid bees concentrating on neighboring properties while foraging for water.
“We actually have some beehives over at Mary Thompson Farm,” Paison said. “There’s a person that does beekeeping there, and that’s been working fine because honeybees are actually pretty docile, not like your wasps or hornets, which are pretty aggressive. Honeybees will bump into you and just fly away.”
Paison said that he was surprised by how easy it is to maintain honeybees.
“It turns out as long as there are sufficient sources of nectar and pollen around, they’re pretty much fine, and one way you keep the nuisance at bay is just make sure they have a supply of water near the hive,” Paison said.
As part of the Gardening Guru program at the Southfield Library, Sarah Vermiglio, a commissioner on the Southfield Wildlife Advisory Board, will be presenting on backyard chickens and providing residents with information on the changes to the city code.
She will also share the basics of raising chickens at her Raising Chickens 101 talk at 6:30 p.m. March 24 at the library.
Vermiglio moved to Southfield to get the best of both worlds. She wanted a blend of country living with close proximity to the city. As someone who loves gardening and being outdoors, she thought chickens would be a great next step for her.
“When I bought this house a couple doors down, I had a neighbor that had a rooster, and though some people hate the sound, I loved it,” Vermiglio said. “I was like, ‘This is just so nostalgic.’ It was nice, so I didn’t have a problem with it. Eventually, I got to the point, after getting settled and building my garden and everything, and I’m like, ‘You know what? Now it’s time. It’s time to do the chickens like I promised.’”
Vermiglio, who worked with the city to change the code to provide clear guidelines on keeping backyard fowl, said, “People want to know where their food is coming from and want to be a little bit more self-sufficient. So I thought that it was a really good thing for the city to adopt it, and I wrote the code, passed it along, gave my proposal, and the city attorneys and city planners, along with the council, kind of batted it around for a little bit and ultimately settled on a good, like middle-road approach, adopting my 50/50 proposal.”
Vermiglio began keeping chickens right before the COVID-19 pandemic. She has eight chickens and plans to get more female chickens in the spring.
She said the relationship between the chickens and the garden is symbiotic.
“It’s awesome, and not only that, but there’s so many benefits. They minimize waste (and) they process your food scraps for you — right in protein, too,” Vermiglio said. “So it’s great, on a lot of different levels, to cut waste and be able to be a little bit more self-sustaining. The compost goes into my big compost bin every time I clean out the coop, and they go into my fenced-in garden and clean up shop — early spring and through the winter and all that stuff.”
Vermiglio joked that she’s the “official chicken lady of Oakland County.”
To learn more about the animal ordinance changes, visit www.cityofsouthfield.com, click “Agendas & Minutes,” select “City Council Agendas,” and then select the agenda for the Feb. 24 meeting.
Residents can watch City Council meetings at www.youtube.com/@SfdCable15.
For more information on Vermiglio’s upcoming talk, visit southfieldlibrary.org.
