By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services/Yuma Sun
State lawmakers refused Wednesday to overturn local zoning laws about keeping chickens in backyards even if it would help an Oro Valley Republican with his social life.
The Senate-passed legislation would have opened the door to occupants of single- family homes keeping not just chickens but also turkeys, swans and geese.
Proponents of SB 1151 said the legislation would encourage people to raise their own eggs. They also said it was a matter of property rights.
But Rep. Karen Fann, R-Prescott, said Wednesday that cities enact zoning laws and restrictions to keep communities and neighbors working together and not infringing on each other’s rights. Fann, a former Prescott council member, said once the state steps in, that paves the way to no local zoning laws at all.
