City Ordinances and Animals

The City of Rochester Hills has a number of ordinances related to both pets and wild animals that are important to follow as considerate members of the community.

The association has received a few notes from a concerned residents in the past few months related to animals in the neighborhood. While the primary responsibility of the association is to uphold the deed restrictions, our guiding principle, as mentioned in the deed restrictions is to make this a neighborhood “of the highest type”. With that in mind, we want to take the opportunity to share these concerns and make it known that the City of Rochester Hills actually has ordinances related to them. Failure to comply could potentially result in fines or other consequences from the City.

If you notice a neighbor doing any of the following, please consider talking to them first (hopefully in a friendly, diplomatic way), as perhaps they are just unaware of the consequences of their behavior. If you are not comfortable doing this, reporting the ordinance violation to the City is an option.

Feeding wildlife

As many of you are aware, deer can be a real nuisance in our neighborhood. With no real natural predators, a booming population, and suburban sprawl taking over their natural habitat, deer are having to find new sources of food to stay alive. Flowers and bushes that were once considered relatively safe from deer are now being munched on more often than not. One of the most obvious signs of this are the 4-5 foot line of decimated foliage on arborvitae bushes throughout the neighborhood.

While it might seem nice to feed the deer with berries, vegetables and other food during the winter, this actually draws them out of the nearby woods and meadows (e.g. the Oakland University property at Avon and Adams) and into the neighborhood where they will linger and continue to munch on our landscaping.

Because of the damage it can cause, the City of Rochester Hills has an ordinance prohibiting feeding deer and other wildlife. If you know of one of your neighbors leaving food outside to feed deer, please let them know about damaging consequences this behavior can cause and/or let the City know about this issue.

Pet Control

Another concern that has been brought to our attention is letting pets run loose in the neighborhood. We understand that sometimes pets can get loose. While that can be a stressful experience for the owner, the real concern is when pets are regularly allowed to roam freely, as it can make both other pets and people in the neighborhood uncomfortable since they may be uncertain or unfamiliar with the animal’s demeanor. This can be true of both cats and dogs.

For this reason, pets need to be kept on a leash or otherwise contained, such as indoors or via an Invisible Fence.

Additionally, dogs that bark frequently enough to be considered a nuisance are also an ordinance violation and should be kept indoors.