Variance request to keep chickens & a chicken coop on property in a One-Family Residential Zone; Ordinance interpretation; Pittsfield Twp v Malcolm

In an order in lieu of granting leave to appeal, the court reversed the Court of Appeals judgment (see e-Journal # 79606 in the 6/20/23 edition), which held that “plaintiffs were not required to seek a variance and permission to keep chickens in a chicken coop on their property.” The court noted that the zoning ordinance at issue “stated what activities are permitted at the one-family detached dwelling on plaintiffs’ property: accessory uses and accessory structures customarily incidental to one-family detached dwellings.” Pursuant to Pittsfield Twp, under an ordinance that “specifically sets forth permissible uses under each zoning classification . . . absence of the specifically stated use must be regarded as excluding that use.” The court remanded the case to the Court of Appeals for consideration of whether the trial court erred in affirming the decision of defendant-Charter Township’s Zoning Board of Appeals to deny “plaintiffs’ request to keep chickens in a chicken coop on their property.”