It looks like South Jacksonville won’t be following in the footsteps on Jacksonville when it comes to the topic of chickens.
Jacksonville City Council voted 5-4 in favor of a chicken ordinance in March that states chickens must be 15 feet away from an owner’s side lot, five feet from the rear portion and at least 35 feet away from your neighbor’s house.
During a Planning and Public Facilities Committee meeting on Thursday, trustees unanimously agreed that a chicken ordinance wasn’t needed in the village.
Code Enforcement Officer Wilbur German noted that current village law has no rules limiting the amount of chickens South Jacksonville residents can have. German says the only regulations apply to swine.
To the village’s best knowledge, there are four residents in South Jacksonville who own chickens. Trustees considered the possibility of extending a “grandfather clause” to those residents, allowing them to continue owning chickens.
No action was taken by trustees and an agreement was reached to bring the topic up again at future meetings.