A woman who kept six chickens in the backyard of her Elizabeth Township home before moving to North Huntingdon last month got a recommendation Monday from North Huntingdon’s planning commission that she can keep the chickens at her new home.

The planning commission unanimously recommended that Sarah Helzlsouer of 12120 Adams Drive, be granted a conditional use permit to move her six chickens to her fenced-in backyard in her residential neighborhood, with several conditions that include the location of the chicken coop 20 feet from property line and 40 feet from any dwelling. Requirements also pertain to the proper disposal of the chicken manure.

Helzlsouer, who has had her chickens for two years, will have the chance to state her case for the conditional use permit at a public hearing the township commissioners have scheduled for 6:30 p.m. May 12 at the North Huntingdon Townhouse.

The board commended Helzlsouer for applying for a conditional use permit before setting up the chicken coop in her backyard. In the past two years, the township commissioners have been confronted with residents who wanted a permit to raise chickens in their backyard in area zoned residential but only after being cited for violating a township ordinance on backyard chickens.

“You properly presented your case,” said William Chapman, board president.

Most of those people who want backyard chickens in a residential neighborhood “come after the fact” of having the chickens, said Tom Kerber, a planning commission member.

Helzlsouer said she would place the 4-foot-by-5-foot chicken coop with a 10-foot-by-10-foot fence behind her home and a vacant lot she owns adjacent to her house.

She promised the planners she would obey the ordinance that prohibits roosters in a residential neighborhood.

“I don’t want to listen to the (roosters’) noise, and nobody wants to,” Helzlsouer said.

Helzlsouer said she likes the eggs the hens produce and has given extra ones to her neighbors.

“I think the chickens are really cute and really fun. I miss them already,” Helzlsouer said, noting she had given them to a friend while seeking the conditional use permit.

Helzlsouer explained to the planners that she cleans the coop of the manure and disposes it with the garbage.

She had straw as a bed and keeps plants around the coop in an effort to reduce the number of bugs. If she lets them out of the coop at night, she monitors their activity, Helzlsouer said.

“This is a model way for people to have chickens,” said Joe Dykta, a planning commission member.

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