Can I petition for an exemption to the municipal code banning roosters from urban farms?
Seattle Municipal Code at Section 23.42.052 regulates the keeping of chickens within the city limits. The city ordinance allows up to eight hens on any property, except that on lots greater than 10,000 square feet which include either a community garden or an urban farm, one additional fowl is permitted for every 1,000 square feet of lot area over 10,000 square feet in community garden or urban farm use. The section also states that coops or structures used to house chickens must be ten feet away from any dwelling. Finally, the section also states that roosters are not permitted. Therefore you are correct that under the Seattle Code, no one can have roosters in their urban chicken flocks, only hens. See S.M.C. § 23.42.050 (c)(2) .
