Council members and residents told a Buildings and Land subcommittee they did not support a proposed ordinance to permit backyard chickens under a regulatory framework, and raised enforcement and nuisance concerns.

Public comment was uniformly negative at the committee hearing. Residents described repeated odor, noise and property‑maintenance problems at addresses where birds and other animals had been kept, and several speakers recounted long, costly disputes that affected neighbors. Multiple council members echoed those concerns and said the city already has difficulty enforcing current prohibitions and other code provisions (for example fireworks and abandoned vehicles), and that creating a permissive rule without increased enforcement resources would not solve underlying compliance problems.

Staff said enforcement of the current prohibition already fell to a small set of personnel — building and housing inspectors, the safety‑service office and animal control — and that in the prior 18 months the city had received two formal chicken complaints that were addressed. The city’s building and planning director noted that accessory‑structure permits already exist for outbuildings and that any new chicken‑coop structure would normally be reviewed under existing permitting rules and setbacks.

Committee members discussed options including strengthening enforcement and penalty provisions for existing bans, raising permit fees so enforcement could be funded, or limiting poultry only to larger lots outside denser neighborhoods. No ordinance was advanced; committee members suggested further work on enforcement capacity and returning with refined language and resource implications if council wants to revisit the idea.

Why it matters: Backyard‑poultry debates often balance urban agricultural interest against nuisance, health and enforcement concerns. In this city the policy debate flagged enforcement capacity as the overriding constraint: council members who oppose change said the problem is not a lack of regulation but the city’s ability to compel compliance.