Orland Park will allow keeping of hens on some residential properties, but don’t rush out to buy your coops just yet.
The zoning change, approved by the Village Board Monday, would allow a maximum of eight hens — no roosters allowed — kept in pens and only on residential lots of at least an acre.
Mayor Keith Pekau said there were a few requests from residents to keep chickens, but the village’s zoning language was fuzzy on the issue.
Other southwest suburban communities, including Palos Park and Tinley Park have relaxed rules in recent years on the keeping of chickens. Some south suburban communities, including Lansing, have said no.
In 2016, Palos Hills limited the number of chickens allowed to be kept on residential properties to four after complaints about larger numbers being kept.
The current Orland Park ordinance prohibited keeping or confining cattle, swine, fowl or other livestock.
In Palos Park, no more than five chickens are allowed on lots of less than an acre, and Tinley Park also requires the keeping of chickens be confined to lots of at least 7,500 square feet.
Orland Park Trustee William Healy asked whether residents who keep hens would be allowed to sell any eggs produced, but the village ordinance prohibits anything other than consumption by the owners.
Hens, according to the ordinance change, would be kept within a coop or pen and only for “personal, non-commercial use.”
Orland Park will also require a building permit for any coop or fenced area, according to the ordinance.
The village’s goal is to “enable residents to raise a small number of hens while creating standards that ensure that domesticated hens do not create a nuisance” for neighbors, the ordinance reads.
Hens would need to be kept in shelters or fenced areas at least 100 feet from a neighboring residence, and at least 100 feet from the lot line of a church, school or public street, according to the change.
