Oyster Bay, NY Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

16, part of the zoning chapter's individual-use standards, prohibits erecting, altering, or using any building, structure, or premises in a residence district for the housing, feeding, or harboring of pigeons, fowl, swine, goats, horses, rabbits, foxes, mink, and bees. That blanket ban applies unless the property owner first obtains a special use permit from the Town's Board of Appeals (Zoning Board of Appeals), which reviews the request through its standard special-use process before any coop, pen, stable, or hive can go in. Even with a permit in hand, the code imposes a hard setback: no accessory building or structure, or any part of one, used to house these farm animals may be located less than 50 feet from any lot line, a distance meant to buffer neighbors from noise, odor, and runoff.

The provision was last amended June 15, 2021 by Local Law No. 6-2021, replacing an older version of the same restriction. 15 capping ordinary household pets at six per single-family residence and two per other dwelling unit, and it is distinct from Chapter 103's Article IV ban on feeding wild fowl on Town or private property, which addresses attracting pigeons and geese rather than keeping farm animals on a lot. Anyone wanting backyard chickens, ducks, goats, or bees in an Oyster Bay residence district therefore needs Board of Appeals approval first; building without it exposes the structure to a zoning violation independent of any Building Department permit for the coop or pen itself.

Applicants should expect the Board to weigh lot size, distance to neighboring dwellings, and manure or odor control before approving keeping of farm animals under this section.