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Council to bring ordinance banning large-scale feeding of wild animals back for adoption
Summary
After staff outlined problems caused by large-scale wildlife feeding, including skunk congregations and rodent attractants, the council directed staff to return a revised ordinance for adoption with an exception for normal backyard bird feeding.
Westland staff presented a revised draft ordinance to prohibit attracting and feeding wild animals in ways that create neighborhood nuisance or public-health risks. Councilors told staff to schedule the ordinance for formal adoption at a future council meeting.
Why this matters: City staff and police described repeated complaints about large-scale, intentional wildlife feeding that has attracted skunks, increased rodent activity and produced community nuisance impacts. Councilors and staff said the city’s current nuisance code (Section 5.495) provides a way to declare public nuisances, but enforcement that way requires council findings and a public process that can be inefficient and stigmatizing.
City code enforcement officer Nicola summarized calls she has taken related to large-scale feeding. She said the feeding has led to multiple neighborhood impacts: skunks spraying pets and making yards unusable because of odor; increases in rats and mice that require paid extermination; and reports of pets becoming sick after ingesting poisoned rodents. Nicola said the city’s existing public-nuisance provisions were difficult to apply to these situations and that other Oregon cities include explicit prohibitions on feeding wild animals.
The draft ordinance includes an explicit exception for typical backyard bird feeding so long as it does not create an unreasonable disturbance, an accumulation of droppings or other attractants for rodents. City Attorney Klein and staff said that exception was added in response to public concerns.
Council discussion: Councilors asked how many complaints the city had received; Nicola estimated “about 10 to 15” calls over the past few years but cautioned that was not a precise count. Councilors also discussed enforcement strategy; staff said enforcement would be complaint-driven and focused first on education and voluntary compliance, with citations and abatement measures reserved for repeat, large-scale feeders who refuse to address hazards.
Next steps: Council showed unanimous thumbs-up to schedule the revised ordinance for consideration and potential adoption at a future council meeting. Staff said they would return with the updated code language, suggested enforcement protocols and proposed findings for any public-nuisance declarations needed.
Ending: Councilors emphasized education-first enforcement and noted the ordinance aims to fill a local code gap that has impeded prompt remedies to neighborhood public-health and nuisance impacts.
