Andrew Wordes has had pet chickens on and off since he was 8 years old.

Until recently, his predilection for poultry has never been a problem. But on March 19, he’ll be in Roswell municipal court answering a code enforcement citation for violating city zoning law by keeping his birds in a residential district.

“I’ve had three attorneys look at this statute and they all say the way it is written, chickens are absolutely legal in Roswell,” Wordes said.

He’s not sure yet which attorney he’ll have with him, but Wordes said he will be represented by legal counsel when he appears before Judge Maurice Hilliard to contend that city staff’s interpretation of the zoning ordinance used to cite him is incorrect.

The citation hinges on a section of the city zoning code that defines permitted uses in residential districts. In estate zoning, “livestock raising, not including poultry and hogs,” is allowable, but not in any other residential zoning.

On its face it would seem that would mean that poultry could be permitted because it isn’t included in the prohibition against livestock.

But according to a legal opinion from the assistant city attorney, poultry is defined by the state as livestock.

He goes on to say that “if one were to read the [Roswell zoning] provision to mean that raising chickens and hogs is permitted in all residential zoning districts, then one must alter the plain meaning of ‘livestock’ to take poultry and hogs out of the general definition. This stands the provision on its head.”

Mayor Jere Wood, an attorney by profession, is on Wordes’ side. “Mr. Wordes keeps pet chickens,” Wood wrote in a memo to council and the city administrator. “If his birds are illegal, then every citizen with a canary, parakeet and other pet bird is violating our zoning code.”

Wordes, who lives off of Alpharetta Street in one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods, isn’t sure who contacted code enforcement about his chickens, but speculates it was a disgruntled former employee of his. “My neighbors don’t have a problem with my chickens. Their children come over and play with them.”

He is a member of a pet chicken meet-up group started by Johns Creek resident Andy Schneider, aka “The Chicken Whisperer.” Fully half of the membership of more than 400 is from north Fulton, Wordes said.

“I know six to 10 in Roswell alone, but they’re afraid to come forward on this issue for fear of being cited themselves,” Wordes said.