Tarrytown Gets Backyard Chickens

NEWS OF THE MONTH FROM THE TARRYTOWN ENVIRONMENTAL ADVISORY COUNCIL

MARCH 2020
WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT
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This month, you can measure your solar potential. Chickens are welcome in Tarrytown, the kayak racks are reservable, the plastic bags are gone, and Thursday, March 5 (tonight!), join us for our monthly meeting at 7:00. It's open to the public, and we'd love to have you! We're inching toward Earth Day 2020 -- its 50th anniversary! -- and have a poster to share with you.

IT'S POPULAR!
EXTRA PICK-UPS AT THE FOOD SCRAP RECYCLING STATION
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If you're finding the large bins at the food scrap recycling station full, there's help!

Our food scrap recycling (composting) program is so popular, the bins have been bulging with kitchen-wastey goodness. But it's no fun trying to cram your veggie scraps into an over-stuffed bin.

Luckily, Tarrytown has added a second day to the week's pick-up. Now your food scraps will be carted away, en masse, twice a week: Tuesday and Friday.

Remember, compost "starter kits" are available for purchase at the Wilson Library and the Rec center. They are $23.00 per kit. If you'd like to participate, check out all the information on our website. Then, just fill the bins with your food scraps and bring the filled totes to the drop-off center, located between the Recreation and the Senior Center by Pierson Park.

GOOD NEWS
PLASTIC BAG LAW

IT'S OFFICIAL, AND IT'S IN EFFECT. Gov. Cuomo's statewide ban on single-use plastic bags is in full effect, and even as Tarrytown Environmental Advisory Council will keep advocating for a small fee on paper bags as well, we're hoping you'll be in the habit of carrying cloth or plastic re-usable bags with you to the stores, and not rely on stores' paper bags.

READ THE ARTICLE

LET'S SOLARIZE:
FIND OUT HOW MUCH SOLAR POTENTIAL IS ON YOUR ROOF WITH THIS TOOL
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Google has rolled out an excellent way to find out -- from the comfort of your chair -- just how much you can save by installing solar panels.

Looking at the entire Village of Tarrytown, Project Sunroof estimates that 71% of the Village’s 1,800 rooftops are solar-viable. That’s a huge potential, given that we currently have less than 100 solar-equipped rooftops.

Give it a try! Follow the link in Dean's article on our website:

https://tarrytownenvironmental.org/project-sunroof-shows-great-solar-potential-in-tarrytown/

Delish!
A MEAT-FREE DINNER EVENT
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DON'T miss this exceptional night out at the JCC in Tarrytown on Monday, March 16. Share a delicious meal and learn some simple changes you can make to reduce your carbon hoofprint and help save the planet!

Buh-GAWWW!
A CHICKEN IN EVERY TARRYTOWN BACKYARD
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It's now legal to keep chickens in Tarrytown backyards. But there are restrictions.

Who among us hasn't thought, at one time or another, "Living in Tarrytown is great! If only I could keep chickens."?

Well! Progress has been made, and just when you thought the village couldn't get any better, along comes Section 3 of Chapter 125 in the Village Code, "Keeping of Chickens".

On January 21, 2020, the Village passed a Section allowing for the keeping of chickens. There are restrictions, though, and we're sharing them with you in this newsletter.

Read carefully, or you'll miss the details and get yourself a rooster!

§ 125-3. Keeping of Chickens.

A. The keeping of 12 or fewer chickens is permitted as an accessory use in all single-family residential zones (the R-80, R-60, R-40, R-30, R-20, R-15, R-10, R-7.5 and R-5) subject to the following restrictions:

(1) All structures used for the housing and feeding of chickens and all exercise yards, pens or other areas used for their maintenance shall be located so at to comply with minimum setback requirements governing accessory buildings as set forth in Chapter 305.

(2) Chickens must be confined at all times to a chicken coop and/or fenced-in enclosure and shall not be permitted to roam freely on any property in the Village of Tarrytown.

(3) Any chicken coop or similar-type structure for housing or enclosing chickens shall not exceed 8 feet in height nor be greater than 25 sq. feet in building coverage and shall not be constructed or erected prior to obtaining a building permit.

(4) All feed shall be housed in rodent proof containers.

(5) All structures used for the housing and feeding of chickens and all exercise yards, pens or other areas used for their maintenance shall be kept clean and free of noticeable odors across property lines and any accumulation of manure. Any person maintaining chickens shall prevent runoff onto other properties to the maximum extent practicable from all structures used for the housing and feeding of chickens and all exercise yards, pens or other areas used to maintain chickens.

(6) No roosters shall be permitted in any building or on any property within the Village of Tarrytown.

(7) No commercial sale of chickens or their eggs shall be permitted.

(8) A minimum of ten (10) sq. ft. of fenced-in outdoor space per chicken is required, and the setbacks established by zoning must be complied with.

(9) The slaughter of chickens and the raising of chickens for slaughter on residential properties in the Village of Tarrytown shall be prohibited.

(10) Denial of an application for a building permit for an accessory structure and/or enclosure to house chickens that is based on zoning standards for area or setbacks may be appealed to the Zoning Board of Appeals.

Section 4. Amending Existing Provision. Chapter 125, Section 2. Entitled “Restrictions” is hereby amended as follows: H. No person owning or possessing any household pet or chicken shall suffer or allow it to disturb the comfort, peace or repose of persons in the vicinity by long, continued, frequent or repetitive noise.

LOVE YOUR VILLAGE
JOINING TEAC IS EASY. JUST COME TO A MEETING.
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TEAC relies on volunteers to keep things moving. Join our monthly meetings to see what's going on, and how you can pitch in.

Each month, TEAC meets on the 1st Thursday in Village Hall, One Depot Plaza, at 7:00PM. The next regular TEAC meeting will be on March 5, 2020 (that's tonight!). The meetings are open to all.

TEAC is also in need of:

Volunteers to help with Earth Day projects and events.

LOVE YOUR VILLAGE
MOBILE SHREDDER COMING TO TARRYTOWN THIS WEEKEND.
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Pretty much says it all: We have a mobile shredder coming our way this Saturday. Here's the flyer:

PADDLES UP!
NEW KAYAK RACKS, REGISTRATION OPEN AT LOSEE PARK
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There are now three kayak racks for Tarrytown residents' use and, as of this week, they're open for you to register your kayak and store it near the Hudson River.

The racks, installed at Losee Park (on the river side of the railroad tracks, just north of the Washington Irving Boat Club), enable Hudson River kayakers (and Tarrytown residents) to store their kayaks on racks, river-side.

Interested in renting a space in the racks for 2020? Each kayak permit, entitling you to a spot on the rack, costs $170 annually and can be reserved at the Recreation Center. The registration covers your kayak from April 1 to March 31.

TIME TO TOSS...
YOUR WORN-OUT CLOTHES?

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Have some old clothes, hole-y socks, used-up sheets and handbags, or other torn or dirty things that Goodwill would reject? Don't chuck them in the trash. Textile recycling has been very successful in the Village.

In 2019, 4,210 pounds of unwanted materials were collected at the Tarrytown-Sleepy Hollow Farmer's Market in 2019, to be recycled.

And starting on March 14, the Green Tree Textile Recycling bin, usually stationed at the TaSH, will be in the foyer of 54 W Main Street on Saturday mornings from 9-1ish, until the market is back on May 23rd. (While you’re there, pick up some new duds at Trilogy Consignment Boutique!)

You can also use the button below to find a textile recycling bin near you.

FIND A TEXTILE RECYCLING BIN

GET THE DOWNLOAD FOR YOUR FRIDGE!

"OMAHA, NE—According to a U.S. Poultry Council report released Monday, the collective efforts of the world's 16 billion chickens have yet to yield any appreciable results. "For thousands of years, chickens worldwide have put a tremendous amount of energy into their various activities, which include flapping, squawking and pecking with a great deal of vigor," the Poultry Council report read. "But it remains unclear what has been accomplished as a result of their unfocused efforts."" ~The Onion