Cowlitz County, WA Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

660, in the Land Use Ordinance's supplementary provisions, addresses agricultural uses inside residential land use districts such as RR-1, RR-2, RR-5 and SR. It permits farming, truck gardening, orchards and nurseries as of right in those districts, but attaches two conditions: no retail or wholesale business sales office may operate on the premises, and no poultry or livestock other than normal household pets may be housed within 100 feet of any residence other than the dwelling on the owner's own lot. That 100-foot figure is measured from the coop, pen, barn or other animal housing to the nearest neighboring residence, not to the property line, so a large lot can still put an owner in violation if the animal housing sits too close to a neighbor's house.

10 CCC; it does not extend the same restriction to agricultural districts like AG, AG-I or AG-38, where farming and livestock are the primary use. A code reviser's note attached to this section explains that Ord. 700 and that the county requested those sections be reinstated, confirming the 100-foot standard remains in force today. 12, handles licensing and at-large complaints for dogs and other pets, but the 100-foot livestock and poultry setback itself is a land use standard administered by the Building and Planning Department, not Animal Control.

Anyone planning a coop or small livestock pen on residentially zoned property should measure the 100-foot distance to the nearest neighbor's house before siting the structure, since that determines whether a permitted agricultural accessory use crosses into a Land Use Ordinance violation.