Brookhaven, NY Landscaping Rules: Composting (2026)

The composting standard sits inside § 85-892, the Animals section of the Town's zoning code, under the rules for housing horses and other equine livestock on residential property. Horses are only allowed as an accessory use to a residence, for the resident's own animals (boarding or renting horses out is barred), and the lot must run at least 40,000 square feet, with no more than two horses per 40,000 square feet and a hard cap of eight horses on any parcel. Barns and stables need a 50-foot setback from side and rear lot lines and cannot sit in the front yard between the house and the street, and any corral or run must be fenced at least five feet high with gaps no wider than six inches, itself set back more than five feet from side and rear lines.

Manure management is where composting comes in: owners must keep manure in weatherproof containers 50 feet from every adjoining property line, or, as an alternative, compost it in bins capped at four feet by four feet by five feet, placed at least 20 feet off any lot line, with no more than six such bins allowed per parcel. Every horse-keeping property must also meet the standards of the Suffolk County Department of Health and the Suffolk County Sanitary Code. There is no separate permit application listed for horse-keeping itself, unlike the Town's pigeon-keeping rules a few paragraphs later, which do require an annual Town Clerk permit, so compliance here runs on inspection and complaint rather than upfront licensing.