unincorporated but restricted

A good fried of mine was recently lamenting that he feels restricted by the home-owner's association because they won't let him build a chicken coop in his yard. I laughed. As if the home-owner's association was his only roadblock! I explained that even if he wasn't in a covenant-controlled neighborhood, he'd still have zoning laws to contend with, and that many counties can act like fascists when it comes to livestock and poultry regulations. He explained that he thought that he was exempt from most of these laws because he was in an "unincorporated" part of the county. Unfortunately, just because an area is called "unincorporated" doesn't mean that you have cart blanche to do whatever you like with your property.

It's a shame, but he should have known better, or at least should have read the neighborhood covenants and restrictions before he bought his home. To make matters worse, he bought it with the assistance of Fannie Mae, so he has to stay in the home for at least two years. Relocating because you can't have a chicken coop seems sort-of silly to me, anyways. Even if he could put his house up for sale, the real estate market isn't exactly doing very well right now in most areas.