On December 16, 2025 the Palm Coast City Council unanimously adopted Chapter 8, Article III, Section 8-100 of the City Code, formally allowing residents to keep up to four (4) hens on a permitted single-family property. Roosters are expressly prohibited. The ordinance, which followed a successful 50-resident Backyard Chicken Pilot Program launched May 13, 2025, requires an application and a $50 permit fee through the City's online permitting portal at palmcoastgov.com/building under 'Homeowner Permitting.' Eligibility is limited to homesteaded, single-family detached properties; rental properties are excluded unless the owner provides written approval, and properties within Homeowners Associations are excluded entirely (HOA covenants in most Palm Coast subdivisions continue to bar fowl).
Palm Coast was historically a residential planned community in which all chickens, including hens, were prohibited under Chapter 8 of the City Code. That position changed in 2025 after a multi-year advocacy effort by residents and a 2024 Council direction to study a pilot program. The Backyard Chicken Pilot Program launched May 13, 2025 allowed 50 residents to apply for permits to keep up to four hens each; the City's Code Enforcement and Animal Control divisions evaluated complaints, sanitation, and compliance through the summer and fall of 2025 and reported no significant nuisance problems. On December 16, 2025 the City Council unanimously voted to make the program permanent by adopting Chapter 8, Article III, Section 8-100 - 'Backyard Chickens.' Under the adopted ordinance: (1) Maximum FOUR hens per permitted property; (2) Roosters are expressly PROHIBITED (to control noise nuisance); (3) Eligibility is restricted to HOMESTEADED, single-family detached properties (so vacant lots, duplexes, multi-family units, mobile-home parks, and commercial parcels are excluded); (4) Properties inside Homeowners Associations are EXCLUDED from eligibility - HOA-governed subdivisions in Palm Coast (Grand Haven, Hammock Beach, Hidden Lakes, and many of the Indian Trails, Pine Lakes, and Quail Hollow sections) cannot participate; (5) Rental properties require WRITTEN OWNER APPROVAL submitted with the application; (6) A $50 application fee is required, payable through the online portal at palmcoastgov.com/building (Homeowner Permitting); (7) Coop construction, setbacks, sanitation, slaughter prohibition, and other operational requirements are specified in the permit application package issued by Code Enforcement. The ordinance is administered by the Palm Coast Code Enforcement Division (also the City's Animal Control authority), with intake handled at the City's online permitting portal. The City retained the existing Chapter 8 prohibition against keeping other livestock (cattle, goats, sheep, swine, horses) on residential lots within the City; livestock-keeping in Flagler County outside the Palm Coast city limits is governed by the County's Agricultural (AC) zoning district and Right-to-Farm Act protections under FS Ch. 823. Florida state law (FS 823.14, Florida Right to Farm Act) preempts city regulation of bona fide agricultural operations on lands classified for agricultural use, but Palm Coast residential R-1, R-2, and MFR zones are not agricultural and remain subject to the Code.
Keeping more than four (4) hens, keeping a rooster, or keeping any hens without a valid Sec. 8-100 permit on a Palm Coast residential property is a violation of Chapter 8, Article III of the City Code. Keeping chickens on a property inside an HOA-governed subdivision is a violation regardless of HOA position - the ordinance categorically excludes HOA properties from eligibility. Keeping chickens on a rental property without written owner approval is a violation. Code Enforcement issues a Notice of Violation with a compliance deadline (typically 14-30 days); continued non-compliance can be referred to the Code Enforcement Board for a hearing with daily civil penalties under Chapter 162, Florida Statutes, and removal of the animals. Keeping any traditional livestock (cattle, goats, sheep, swine, horses) on a Palm Coast residential lot is a separate violation of Chapter 8 unless the parcel carries an agricultural zoning designation.
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