Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Neighbor upset with constant crowing

Denyse Gerges says that the fowl menagerie near her home is so disruptive, she might leave.

By ANNE LINDBERG
Published September 28, 2005

SEMINOLE - When Denyse Gerges moved into her home six years ago, she fell in love with the quiet Seminole neighborhood.

That changed abruptly about three months ago when she was awakened at about 6 one morning by a rooster crowing. The crowing has seldom stopped since that time and has gotten worse as other roosters and hens moved in, she said.

"I didn't know that roosters went all day," Gerges said Monday. "Their voice is made to travel, right through my walls."

The roosters and hens belong to Anderson Fernandes who lives behind Gerges. In addition to the chickens, Fernandes has finches, canaries, fantail pigeons and rabbits.

He also has three citations from Pinellas County code enforcement.

The alleged infractions: the keeping of livestock, e.g. chickens and hens, in the rear of the property; building a playhouse without getting a zoning clearance; and putting a small building in the yard that was taller than 10 feet. Fernandes is facing fines of up to $555.

If Fernandes does not comply and/or pay the fines, he must appear in front of a judge on Oct. 14, according to the citations.

"I don't have much to say besides the fact I have the birds because I like them," Fernandes said Tuesday. "It's a hobby. I just liked birds ever since I was a kid."

Fernandes said he has about 50 birds in all, mostly the finches and canaries.

The rabbits, he said, belong to his daughter.

"Probably now we have about six," he said. "We bought two, now we have six. We didn't know they were male and female. . . . All of a sudden, we started having babies."

Fernandes said he has no intention of getting rid of the birds. As for the roosters, they can move into the garage, he said.

Fernandes concedes the bantam roosters are a bit noisy, which he said he did not know when he bought them. But the noise is not really the problem, he said. The Gergeses' complaints about the roosters are simply payback because of complaints Fernandes made about Gerges' fence and a storage shed, he said.

"I guess (the Gergeses' have) an issue with the birds now after I complained about the fence," Fernandes said. "Now we're going to play the pingpong game."

Gerges agreed that Fernandes did complain about a shed in her yard. She and her husband moved it away from the fence. But that has nothing to do with the rooster issue, she said.

It's noise, plain and simple.

Gerges works nights and weekends at the Boley Center, so she sometimes has to sleep during the day. Sleeping is impossible, she said, with the constant crowing.

But it goes beyond the crowing, she said. Fernandes sometimes allows the roosters to run around free, enabling them to perch along the fence or finch pen. They relieve themselves all over the yard, causing unpleasant odors that waft into Gerges' yard.

If something isn't done, Gerges said she would have to sell her house.

"This is all I think about because this is all I hear," Gerges said. "It's all day. They'll take a 10-minute break then start again."

[Last modified September 28, 2005, 12:26:06]