Noblesville is one of the most restrictive Hamilton County cities on backyard chickens. Section 90.27 of the Noblesville Code of Ordinances (Title IX, Chapter 90 - Animals) flatly prohibits keeping, raising, confining or feeding hogs, chickens, ducks, goats, sheep or cows within the corporate limits unless the parcel is in an area zoned agricultural. There is no residential hen permit, no numeric hen cap, and no setback alternative - chickens are simply not allowed on residentially zoned lots inside Noblesville. This puts Noblesville in contrast to neighboring Carmel, Westfield and Fishers, which permit limited backyard hens under various local rules.
Noblesville's animal framework lives in Title IX (General Regulations), Chapter 90 (Animals) of the Code of Ordinances, hosted on the American Legal Publishing code library. Section 90.27 ('Certain Animals Prohibited') is the controlling provision for residential chicken and livestock keeping: 'No person shall keep, raise, confine or feed hogs, chickens, ducks, goats, sheep or cows within the corporate limits of the city unless in an area zoned agricultural.' That language is categorical - it does not authorize a permit, conditional use, hen-only carve-out, or accessory-structure setback alternative. The only path to keep chickens inside Noblesville is to own land that already carries an agricultural zoning designation under the Noblesville Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), which is functionally limited to the rural northern and far-eastern fringes of the corporate limits and is rarely available for new builds because of ongoing annexation and rezoning to residential and PUD districts. Indiana has no statewide preemption that would override Sec. 90.27 - Indiana Code Title 36 leaves local animal-keeping regulation to municipalities, and Indiana's only recent state-level preemption in this space is for honeybees (IC 36-1-28, discussed under beekeeping). Residents have actively petitioned the Noblesville Common Council to amend Sec. 90.27 to allow hens (a Change.org petition and 2019-era coverage in 'The Reporter' newspaper documented the effort), but as of the most recent code update Sec. 90.27 remains unchanged. For comparison within Hamilton County: the Town of Fishers and the City of Carmel permit limited residential hen flocks under their own codes; the Town of Westfield allows hens by-right. Noblesville's stricter posture reflects a Common Council policy choice rather than any state-law constraint. Field enforcement of Sec. 90.27 is by Hamilton County Animal Services, which serves Noblesville from 18100 Cumberland Road, Noblesville (the same campus the City and County share for animal-control intake), with dispatch through Hamilton County Sheriff non-emergency at 317-773-1282 or 317-776-4110.
Keeping chickens, ducks, hogs, goats, sheep or cows on a non-agriculturally-zoned parcel inside the corporate limits of Noblesville is a violation of Section 90.27 of Chapter 90 of the Code of Ordinances. Ordinance violations under Title IX are enforceable by civil penalty under the Code's general penalty section (Title I, Sec. 10.99), with daily-recurring fines until the animals are removed. Hamilton County Animal Services (317-773-1282) handles field investigations and animal seizure; the Noblesville Code Enforcement officer at City Hall (16 S. 10th St., Noblesville, 317-776-6324) issues the underlying ordinance citation. There is no internal permit pathway to cure a Sec. 90.27 violation - the animals must be relocated to an agriculturally zoned parcel or outside Noblesville.
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