Are You A Goose Or A Duck?

Sorry we haven't posted in a few days. Last weekend we got a letter from the city we live in that told us we were in violation of the city zoning ordinances and were conducting a "business" in a residential zone. Amazing that they can take a kitchen hobby and construe it as a business. I guess we didn't help by having a website that makes us look like a parrot megastore.

The problem in a nutshell is T.J. TJ is an Umbrella Cockatoo that was given to us 18 months ago. He sits in a cage in our back yard with his girlfriend Star. TJ is still a pet. Unfortunately, he is still an Umbrella also. Every night he (and every other Umbrella in the world) screams for about 20 minutes. It's his celebration of life in a way. When TJ screams you can hear him a quarter of a mile away.

Our neighbors, who shall remain nameless for a while, complained to the city several times. The city building inspector who enforces zoning got involved and has decided to use the only recourse he has by citing us in violation of city zoning ordinances. The sticky point is that the problem is not that our hobby is violating zoning goals and objectives. TJ's noise is annoying the neighbors.

This would fall under police jurisdiction for disturbing the peace. Since the city building inspector is not a policeman he decided to use his only authority to try and solve the problem. We are making a good faith effort by relocating TJ to the countryside with friends. We are trying to resolve the dispute with the city in a friendly and civil manner.

If you have any suggestions, email us at the address below...later, Craig
- posted by J-Birds @ 8:34 PM |