Sacred Heart Greenwich Proposes Chicken Coop as Part of Expanding Agricultural Education Program

A new application to the Greenwich Planning & Zoning commission on behalf of the private all-girls school, Sacred Heart Greenwich, proposes a chicken coop. The school’s trustees seek to expand the school’s agricultural education program with a 8.5′ x 20′ chicken coop in the northeast corner of their property.

The school, situated on about 109 acres on King Street, has operated pre-school through high school on the campus since 1945. The campus is bounded to the north and east by Fairview Country Club, to the south by Audubon conservation land and Greenwich Woods, and the west by Laurelton Nursing Home and Brunswick School.

Back in 2022 the P&Z commission passed a new regulation requiring a 50 ft setback for chicken coops after residents complained that coops in their neighborhoods were noisy and attracted rats. Existing coops that were the subject of complaints were grandfathered. Ironically, at the time, the subject was taken up by the commission because of complaints about roosters.

The 50 ft setback effectively banned raising chickens in neighborhoods with smaller lots.

The Sacred Heart coop is proposed to be located 183′ from the nearest property line, far exceeding the required setback.

There is also a town ordinance – 6-95(a)(6)(C) – for no more than 10 chickens housed on site, and the school would also abide by that reg.

Chickens in a chicken coop. File photo

As part of Sacred Heart’s proposal, they will be hatching chicks in the spring that would then live in the coop. Any eggs gathered would not be for sale. No slaughtering is proposed.

According to the application, the 48 sq ft enclosed coop with an attached covered run would abut an existing shed. The coop would be a prefabricated structure assembled on site on top of a 12-inch thick crushed stone pad.

The application has yet to be scheduled for a P&Z commission meeting agenda.