Rooster bill gets review
tomorrow on MauiResidentially zoned areas may
see a ban on some types of fowl
WAILUKU >> The noise is enough to make some people cry "fowl."
A Maui County Council committee will be holding a meeting tomorrow to review a bill to ban roosters and other specified fowl from residentially zoned Maui County areas.
The meeting, conducted by the Planning and Land Use Committee, starts at 1:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers.
Maui County Council Vice Chairman Robert Carroll's bill would prohibit the keeping of live chickens, turkeys, geese, ducks and peacocks in the districts zoned residential, R-0 Zero Lot Line residential, duplex and apartment.
"For much too long, many Maui County families have had to endure the effects of noisy crowing roosters in residential neighborhoods," said Carroll, who holds the Council residency seat for East Maui.
Kihei resident David Weiss said his family needs relief from a neighbor who moved in about a year ago and has two roosters about 20 feet from Weiss's bedroom window.
Weiss said the roosters begin to crow between 3 and 4 a.m. daily.
"They can be heard for several blocks," Weiss said in a letter to councilmembers.
Weiss said "the straw that broke the camel's back" was when his teenage son who had a leg cramp called Weiss and his wife for help at 5 a.m.
"We could not hear him because we both were wearing earplugs. He eventually crawled into our room for help," Weiss said.
Marvin Shrewsbury, vice president of the Oceanview Estates Homeowners Association in Waiehu, said his members have suffered from the presence of roosters being raised in residential districts.
"We are not saying that roosters don't have a place in this county ... but we are pleading with you that roosters should not be bred and maintained in locations where there is high or modest housing densities," Shrewsbury said.
He said the average lot size in his community is about 6,000 square feet, and "people live very close to each other."
County of Maui
