Weston ZBA Orders Chicken Coop Moved, Sets October 31 Deadline

WESTON -- September 26, 2023, Weston's Zoning Board of Appeals unanimously affirmed a building inspector's violation ruling against a backyard chicken coop and run at 12 Westland Road, ordering it relocated by October 31, 2023. ZBA Chair Stephen J. Larocque and Members Wendy Kaplan Amour, Laura Mintz, and Associate Member Tristan Colangelo all voted to uphold Building Inspector John Field's determination that the 576-square-foot, seven-and-a-half-foot-high structure, framed with four-by-four lumber and chicken wire, constitutes an illegal structure under the town's zoning bylaw and sits well within the required 25-foot setback. Neighbor Andrew Chase cited early-morning rooster noise and odor, while a second neighbor submitted surveyor photographs showing the run extending 36 feet along the shared boundary line and sitting roughly one and a half feet from the property line. The board also unanimously granted a two-year extension of a special permit for Antonella Walker of 74 Orchard Ave, whose husband died shortly after the original permit was issued in 2021.