Waukegan’s Judiciary Committee on Aug. 18 held a substantive discussion about a potential ordinance to allow residents to keep hens in city limits. The committee heard concerns about enforcement, disease risk, and neighborhood compatibility but did not vote to change the municipal code.

Alderman Guzman, who opened the discussion, said he was “split on this,” voicing concerns about birds getting loose and the risk of disease. Committee members discussed whether hens should be limited to pets (no slaughter) and whether roosters would be excluded because of noise. Alderman Turner noted that similar requests have come to the council for years and that Chicago’s ordinance allows hens but forbids slaughter on residential lots.

Several committee members and staff raised operational questions:
- Enforcement and animal control capacity: Members asked whether animal-control staff could handle seized birds and where they would be housed. Alderman Guzman said an email to committee members raised the prospect that animal-control facilities might need to be expanded to hold seized birds temporarily.
- Public-health and wildlife risk: Alderman Guzman and Alderman Florian raised concerns about avian influenza and how the city would handle isolation or quarantine should a disease outbreak occur.
- Regulatory details: The committee discussed practical limits such as coop size, maximum numbers of hens, setbacks from property lines, prohibitions on slaughter, and prohibiting roosters. The city attorney’s office reported that ordinances in other communities use yard-size thresholds, coop-size limits and setback requirements.

No ordinance or formal recommendation was advanced. The committee chair and city legal counsel said staff could provide sample ordinances and a review of enforcement implications; Alderman Turner asked staff to circulate a Chicago ordinance link and other sample regulations to the committee for further study.

Ending
After roughly an hour of discussion, the committee adjourned with direction for staff to collect model ordinances and gather more information about enforcement, coop standards and public-health contingencies. The committee did not schedule a formal vote and asked staff to return with draft language to consider at a future meeting.