Yes, you can keep chickens in your Webster backyard. Here's what you need to know.
On June 9 the Zoning Board of Appeals granted a Webster homeowner a special use permit for up to eight hens and a backyard coop. Here is how the process works and why more of your neighbors have one than you would think.
Backyard chickens are legal in Webster. On June 9, a Halesworth Lane homeowner asked the Zoning Board of Appeals for permission to keep up to eight hens and an 8-by-8-foot coop on a four-tenths-of-an-acre lot, and the board said yes. That is the part that surprises most people: the town has a process for this, and your neighbors use it.
The board granted a one-year trial permit, with conditions: evergreen screening plantings along two of the property lines, so the coop is not a surprise to the neighbors next door. It was one of five routine variance and permit applications the ZBA approved that night. A board member noted at the June 9 meeting that the ZBA hears three or four applications like this one a year. This is not a rare or eccentric thing to pursue.
So what does the code actually say?
The Webster Zoning Code allows hens in residential districts by special use permit under Sections 350-40 and 350-103. The code specifies requirements for coop placement and flock size. If you want the exact numbers, the Building Department at 1000 Ridge Road is the right call. What is confirmed: you need a permit, the ZBA grants it, and the permit comes up for renewal periodically. The board sets the term case by case (the June 9 grant was a one-year trial), so do not assume a single fixed timeline.
One note worth knowing: the code governs hens specifically. If you had roosters in mind, check with the Building Department before getting attached to the idea.
The process
You do not just call the Building Department and get a stamp. A special use permit application goes to the ZBA, which holds a public hearing. Neighbors can comment. The board looks at the specifics of your lot, your proposed coop location, and the size of the flock. An application fee applies. The bar is not prohibitive if you are on a reasonable lot with a modest flock. The ZBA is weighing whether your setup fits your particular property and neighborhood, not whether chickens are inherently bad. The June 9 approval is a good example of how that works in practice: the board granted the permit but attached screening conditions tailored to that specific lot. The process exists to give neighbors a voice and to make sure the coop at the property line is not a surprise.
Why people do this
Eggs, mostly. Fresh eggs from hens you know by name taste different, or at least it feels that way. For some families it is a pandemic-era hobby that never left. For others it is a piece of a broader effort to know where their food comes from. Parents find it useful for teaching kids something about where breakfast begins. This is not a farm. It is a backyard project, on lots not much bigger than a standard Webster subdivision parcel.
What is the ZBA, anyway?
The Zoning Board of Appeals is a five-member board that hears variance requests and special use permit applications when town code requires it. Here's a deeper look at how the ZBA works.
The bottom line
If you have been looking at your backyard and thinking it could handle a few hens, Webster's zoning code agrees it might be worth asking. File the application, go to the hearing, and let the board weigh in. Worst case, you come home with a clearer understanding of your setback requirements.
AI tools were used in drafting and research.