Bill > HB4764

This bill amends the Garden Act, renaming it the Vegetable Garden and Backyard Chicken Protection Act, to establish a right for individuals to keep backyard chickens, defined as female chickens kept for personal, noncommercial purposes and excluding roosters, on their residential property, though municipalities can enact reasonable regulations like setback rules, sanitation standards, enclosure requirements, and limits on the number of hens, and may require informational notice to neighbors without soliciting their consent. Importantly, municipalities are prohibited from requiring "neighbor consent," which is defined as any approval or nonobjection from adjacent property owners needed for permits or authorizations, and this prohibition also applies to vegetable gardens. The bill also clarifies that while municipalities cannot condition these activities on neighbor consent, existing homeowners' or condominium associations with restrictive covenants can still regulate or prohibit them, and landlords may require consent from tenants. Furthermore, the bill limits the ability of "home rule" municipalities (local governments with broad self-governing powers) to enact regulations inconsistent with this Act and provides for enforcement through civil action for declaratory and injunctive relief, with prevailing plaintiffs able to recover attorney's fees and costs, and also allows for the recovery of any fees paid under a non-compliant ordinance.

https://www.ilga.gov/Legislation/BillStatus?DocNum=4764&GAID=18&DocTypeID=HB&SessionID=114&GA=104