A Bangor family can keep its six emotional support chickens, bucking a city ordinance that prohibits chickens in their neighborhood.
The Bangor Board of Appeals unanimously approved Amy Martin and her disabled son, C-Jay Martin, to have up to six chickens, which can only be females. The allowance only applies to the Martin family and does not allow anyone in Bangor to get chickens.
The appeals board ruling puts an end to a long and confusing process Amy Martin undertook to get a reasonable accommodation under the federal Fair Housing Act, which led her to file a discrimination complaint against Bangor with the Maine Human Rights Commission that was later dismissed.
“We’re very relieved, like a huge burden has been lifted,” Amy Martin said following the appeals board vote Thursday. “We’re just happy C-Jay gets to keep his chickens.”
Amy Martin got six backyard chickens earlier this year for C-Jay, 25, who was born with a number of physical and developmental disabilities. She hoped the chickens would ease his depression, anxiety and isolating behavior that came on during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“During COVID, C-Jay started struggling because he’s very social and we lost all our activities and no one came over,” Martin said last month. “For the past two years, he wasn’t talking to anyone and was very withdrawn.”
C-Jay was born completely blind with a bilateral cleft palate and lip, missing one-third of his brain and half of his right lung, and his heart is on the right side of his chest rather than his left. He also has autism, epilepsy and ADHD.
Seven people spoke during the hearing on Thursday, five of whom implored the appeals board to allow the family to keep their chickens.
“As a parent, I know how fiercely Amy takes care of C-Jay and this is a great way for him to feel socially and emotionally supported,” Imke Jandreau, who lives near the Martins, said. “They’re not a nuisance, we don’t hear them, we don’t see them, and we as neighbors would have never known there were chickens in the backyard.”
Two people spoke against allowing the chickens, not because they disapprove of the family’s chickens, but because they worried allowing chickens in Bangor would bring rats into the neighborhood or encourage others in the city to get chickens.
Jeff Wallace, Bangor’s code enforcement director, said the city had not received any complaints about the family’s hens as of Sept. 25. Wallace also doesn’t believe C-Jay’s chickens attracted the rats in their neighborhood, as rats have been found in other areas of Bangor where there aren’t chickens.
C-Jay’s medical specialist also prescribed him an emotional support animal and noted chickens may be a good match based on his specific combination of conditions.
For example, the “chicken chatter” noises allow him to know where the chickens are, and chickens aren’t easily startled by C-Jay’s self-stimulating behaviors like flapping his hands or spinning in circles.
Chickens are also generally calm and easy to care for, which helps C-Jay create a routine that is satisfying, comforting and enjoyable without being overwhelming.
“Since the chickens came, he’s excited, feels more involved and has more of a purpose,” Martin said last month. “He’s much happier and goes outside more because he’s coming out in the morning to let them out and puts them to bed at night.”
In February, Martin contacted the city seeking an informal reasonable accommodation for emotional support animals under the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Fair Housing Act.
The city directed Martin to submit an application to ask the Board of Appeals for a variance on the city’s law prohibiting chickens in certain residential areas of Bangor.
Martin believed, based on information she found on HUD’s website, that she could have the chickens because they’re assistance animals recommended by a health care professional, then ask the city to keep them as reasonable accommodation. The city, however, expects residents to get permission from the city’s appeals board before doing something prohibited by local law.
When the city didn’t grant the family an informal reasonable accommodation, Martin filed a complaint against Bangor with the Maine Human Rights Commission claiming the city was discriminating against her son.
The commission dismissed Martin’s complaint in September after finding no evidence of discrimination, as “a governmental agency is unable to grant informal reasonable accommodations to city ordinances,” according to the investigation report the city received.