Anonymous Nuisance Complaints Hard to Address, Says City

Residents who wrote an anonymous letter to the Cody Mayor and Council about a smelly chicken coop next door, be advised – the Council can’t help you if they don’t know where you live.
Cody City Administrator Barry Cook says that the Mayor and Council received an anonymous letter from a group of Cody residents complaining about the smell of the chicken coop in their neighborhood. In the letter, the residents noted that their yards and homes stink because the chicken coop smells, and attracts flies; this impacts their quality of life, and their property values. They asked the Mayor and Council to not allow chickens or other farm animals in residential neighborhoods.
While acknowledging that the City Code does allow for certain animals to be kept within the City Limits, Cook said that the Code also allows for the code enforcement officer to address nuisance complaints. However, residents must file a formal complaint to the City so the officer knows where the nuisance actually is – they can’t do anything if the information comes from an anonymous source and doesn’t give a specific location.

Section 5-3-8 of the Cody City Code states that no person keeping an animal in the City limits can permit waste to accumulate in a manner that would cause an unsanitary or offensive living condition to neighboring property owners. Cook says the Code Enforcement officer assesses those code violations and addresses the complaint with the property owner first, before any other action is taken.

Anyone who has issues with smell or other nuisances in their neighborhood are encouraged to give specific information to the City of Cody so their Code Enforcement officer can begin the process of addressing the issue.