The City of Heath does not list chicken-keeping or livestock as a permitted accessory use in residential zoning districts. Heath's Codified Ordinances incorporate Ohio Revised Code animal-cruelty and disease-control provisions, but the City has not adopted a separate backyard-hen ordinance like neighboring Newark (Licking County). Most Heath residential parcels are treated as urban residential where keeping chickens, ducks, geese, goats, or other livestock requires zoning relief.
Heath's Codified Ordinances are published by American Legal Publishing and cover Administrative, Traffic, General Offenses, Business, Streets/Utilities, Planning & Zoning, Building, and Fire Prevention codes. The General Offenses Code adopts Ohio Revised Code chapters on cruelty to animals (ORC 959) and animal disease control. Unlike the neighboring City of Newark (also in Licking County), which allows up to 6 hens with a $30 permit, Heath has not enacted a residential backyard-chicken ordinance. The Heath zoning code does not list keeping of poultry or farm animals as a permitted accessory use in R-1 or R-2 residential districts, which means chickens, roosters, ducks, geese, goats, sheep, pigs, and similar livestock would require a use variance or are effectively prohibited in standard suburban residential lots. Lots with split or rural zoning, or those grandfathered to prior agricultural use, may have different rights — confirm with the Heath Zoning Office.
Zoning violations are enforced by the Heath Planning and Zoning Department under the Codified Ordinances. Code enforcement may issue a notice of violation requiring removal of prohibited animals; continued violations can lead to fines and prosecution as minor misdemeanors under Heath's general penalty provisions.
See how Heath's chickens & livestock rules stack up against other locations.
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