I have been a homeowner in Ventana Ranch for over a decade. In April of 2020, as the world was dealing with the COVID19 pandemic, our family and thousands of others chose to enter the world of backyard chicken flocks. Admittedly, we did not do deep research into whether or not this would be allowable due to the HOA Covenants. However, we were aware of no less than ten families in VR that already had a flock of chickens and had for years. We made the mistake of assuming that this was evidence of the policy allowing chickens.

In August of 2021, 16 months after we first established our flock, we received a courtesy notice from the HOA saying that we were violating the covenants and had 15 days to respond with an appeal, or to get rid of the chickens and the coop.

Our appeal, although definitely impacted greatly by our desire to keep the chickens, is primarily due to what we feel is a societal shift to sustainability and micro-homesteading. Our chickens provide fresh eggs for our family, our neighbors and the households of multiple friends. Additionally, they assist by providing compost and fertilizer for our small garden. 

Assuming a household is maintaining their property and the chickens are not a nuisance, we believe this covenant should be revised to allow a small number of poultry to live on the premises.

This petition will be presented to the HOA Board of Directors as part of our appeal  to the aforementioned violation letter, but more importantly a proposal to revise this policy. Initially the names of those signing will be kept confidential, but names may eventually be revealed if necessary to validate the petition.