This is one of those stories that often never makes it to the Front Page of any newspaper or website. It’s a story about Property Rights and Eminent domain. It’s the story of one man who tried to fight back; and sadly it’s the story of a man who lost it all in the process. It’s also a story that can happen to anyone who is reading this article.
The story begins back in 2009 when Andrew Wordes, otherwise known as the Roswell Chicken Man, began his fight to raise chickens on his property. In February 2009, the city of Roswell, GA started to cite Andrew Wordes for raising livestock in his backyard. Wordes, who had started raising chickens on his .97-acre homestead in 2005, decided to fight back. And guess what he Won.
But sadly, that’s when the real trouble started:
You see, the story actually has very little to do with chickens. While the city of Roswell, and cities just like it across America ,would like people to believe it’s as simple as chickens - the real story is about the rights of property owners.
In a map that was published back in 2003, as part of Roswell’s 2030 Comprehensive Plan for city improvements, one thing becomes painfully obvious. The city had already planned to take Wordes property.
The Map showed that the city had major plans for his property. In fact, Wordes property sat right in the middle of a planned city park. His property was being targeted for “city improvements”, and this fight had nothing to do with chickens. The chickens were really just the catalyst for the city to unlawfully seize his land.
After initially winning his fight in municipal court , the City of Roswell made Wordes life a living hell.
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