I simply could NOT resist that title, even though it’s a little misleading…but it was SO fun!
After an interesting (and occasionally amusing) debate at last night’s City Council meeting – the decision on whether or not to allow the raising of chickens on single family home properties in Boulder City was postponed until the next meeting.
It’s not like I don’t think it will pass…I’m pretty confident that it will – but there were some kinks to be worked out in the language of the ordinance (like whether or not the ‘housing’ has to have a roof or not)…seems a ‘coop’ does and an ‘enclosure’ does not, yet both words were used. I’m actually in favor of getting this detail worked out, to be honest – I’ve seen a coyote jump my 5-foot fence with ease, so keeping them out of the hen house would be a good thing.
Other discussion items centered around (1) the details of whether or not other municipalities that allow chickens require permits; (2) what measures should be in place to handle the burden permits would place on city staff; (3) how enforcement would be handled since violations would be CODE violations and policed by Code Enforcement, not Animal Control (although they would handle cruelty issues). Also interesting was that code violations would be a misdemeanor and subject to a $1,000 find and up to 6 months in jail!
No one came to speak against allowing chickens and about 6-8 people came to voice their support of it. The one concern made against the ordinance was the number of 10 chickens per household, as that could get out of control if more than a few of your neighbors opted in.
So – the Community Development Department is going to “tighten up” some of the language and provide some additional information about what has worked and not worked in other areas that allow them…after which, I would expect the ordinance will pass…but that’s just what I took away from the meeting. So there ya go!
p.s. Mayor Roger Tobler abstained from “The Great Chicken Debate” and the vote because his family owns Home Hardware and they sell chicken feed and coop supplies…picking (or should that be pecking?) on him was where the majority of the amusement came from…it was pretty funny!
