Kent County does not zone livestock. Whether you may keep horses, cattle, goats, or sheep is set by your city or township under Michigan's Zoning Enabling Act. The county only requires owners to keep livestock from running at large.
Because Kent County land sits inside cities, villages, and zoned townships, livestock keeping is governed by municipal zoning under the Michigan Zoning Enabling Act (MCL 125.3101 et seq.), not by the county. Your local ordinance sets minimum acreage, permitted animals, and setbacks from lot lines and dwellings. The county Animal Control Ordinance defines 'livestock' to include horses, cattle, sheep, goats, swine, and fur-bearing animals raised in captivity, and Section 11(f) requires owners to prevent them from running at large on public or others' private property -- though it does not prohibit driving livestock along a public highway under supervision.
Zoning limits are enforced by your city or township. Allowing livestock to run at large is a county municipal civil infraction: $100 first offense, $200 for a repeat within five years, plus costs.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Kent County, MI
Backyard composting is allowed and encouraged in Kent County. Michigan law bans yard clippings from landfills, and the Kent County Department of Public Works...
Kent County, MI
Kent County has no artificial-turf ordinance. Whether synthetic grass is allowed in a front yard is a city or township zoning and property-maintenance questi...
Kent County, MI
Kent County has no native-plant ordinance. Whether a naturalized or prairie-style yard is allowed is set by your city or township, and must be reconciled wit...
Kent County, MI
Collecting rainwater is legal in Michigan and Kent County places no restriction on it. Rain barrels and cisterns for lawn and garden use are allowed; only cr...
Kent County, MI
Kent County sets no lawn-watering schedule. Michigan is not a drought-restricted state, so there is no county odd/even or day-of-week watering rule. Any limi...
Kent County, MI
Under Michigan's Noxious Weed Act, a landowner must destroy noxious weeds before they go to seed. Enforcement runs through a local noxious-weed commissioner ...
See how Kent County's livestock rules stack up against other locations.
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