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Clayton moves ahead with reworked chicken ordinance
(by Mitch Schneider - March 03, 2010)
In a review process that they expect will be similar to what the city’s smoking ban went through, in coming weeks the Clayton aldermen will consider possible updates to the city’s regulations concerning fowl ownership, as they look at a draft ordinance developed by the city’s ecology committee.
“I’ve learned a lot about raising chickens,” said 1st Ward Alderman Andrea Maddox-Dallas, during an aldermanic discussion session on Feb. 9. Maddox-Dallas serves as a representative to the Ecology and Environmental Awareness Committee, which was formed last fall after a group of residents expressed their concerns over the current chicken ordinance.
“There are a lot of people committed to keeping chickens and there are a lot that are concerned,” Maddox-Dallas said. “The committee was charged by the Board of Aldermen to research the subject and we have tried to look at how other municipalities handle this, and what some of their rules and boundaries are. We wanted something that balances living in an urban environment with being a good neighbor.”
In its meetings — most of which were filled with pro-chicken residents — the committee focused its efforts on creating a new draft ordinance, which it unanimously approved at a Feb. 25 meeting. The finalized version will now be presented to the aldermen.
Some points of the draft ordinance are elements prohibiting the keeping of fowl for commercial or resale purposes and prohibiting them in all areas of the city except for one- and two-family dwelling districts. It would also establish guidelines for the kinds and number of fowl that can be kept, as well as for the maintenance of the fowls’ environment and avoiding public nuisance or health concerns caused by noise and/or odor.
The current ordinance, written some 40 years ago, has no limit to the number of chickens or the size of a coop, as long as the area is maintained.
The draft ordinance also requires that people wishing to keep chickens must first obtain a permit from the city. Issuance of a permit would require a one-time fee of $35 and the property would be subject to an inspection by the city. The permit could be revoked if an owner fails to maintain the standards in the ordinance.
At the EEAC meeting, Maddox-Dallas told the committee that this was one of the first steps in the process and that there would be further discussion by the aldermen as well as a public hearing, similar to what was done with the smoking ban, which passed last year.
“This will be delved into by the board, with input from the public, to see if there is something that we missed,” said EEAC chair Diane Meyer. “As it is written, it appears to me to be understandable to the public and clear in its enforcement.”
During the Feb. 9 aldermanic discussion, 3rd Ward Alderman Alex Berger said that some residents in his ward are very much opposed to the presence of fowl. He was also concerned that having a draft ordinance at this early point in the process does not properly take into account the opposition to the issue.
At the Feb. 9 meeting, Goldstein said that she expects the aldermen to take up the subject again sometime this month, adding that they plan on holding a public hearing, although a date has not yet been announced. Following a public meeting, the aldermen would then take time to refine their own thoughts on the issue and “go from there,” she said.
“I expect that there will be a lively public engagement process,” said Goldstein. “I think that [the aldermen] agree that the existing ordinance is too loosely worded and is not up to date. At this point I think we have three options that we can consider: do we keep the ordinance as is, update or do we outlaw [fowl ownership] completely?”
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