Resident asks Dell Rapids council to revisit chicken-permit rule requiring neighbor approval

A Dell Rapids resident told the City Council she had kept backyard hens without obtaining the neighbor signatures required by the city’s ordinance and asked that the council reconsider the rule that gives neighbors effective veto power.

Alyssa Miller, who identified her address as 1209 North Garfield Avenue, said she and her children had raised chicks as pets and that the birds were contained, quiet and kept inside a fenced area. “We got overly excited and kind of did things backwards, and we didn't secure the permit,” Miller said. She asked the council to “look into changing or amending the ordinance and not rely on our neighbor's permission to do something on our own property.”

Why it matters: Miller said the existing requirement — which she described during her remarks as a 75% neighbor approval threshold — lets “personal bias override common sense” and prevents property owners from using their lots in the way they say other nearby communities do. Council members noted the city adopted its ordinance after multi-meeting review of neighboring towns’ rules and that neighbor notification was included to avoid conflicts.

Council discussion and next steps: A council member who identified himself as Chad (during the meeting) recalled the earlier deliberations and said the neighbor-signature clause was intended to make the change more amicable. Mayor Simmons responded to Miller’s request by agreeing to place the matter on the policies and procedures committee agenda for review and a recommendation to the council. “I see no reason why not,” the mayor said when asked whether committee review would be appropriate.

Context and limits: Miller compared Dell Rapids’ rule with Sioux Falls, where she said residents may keep up to six hens without a permit. Council members noted ordinances vary across municipalities and that the city’s current rule was adopted after a review around 2016–2017. No ordinance language was changed at the meeting; the referral to the policies and procedures committee is a staff/council study directive rather than a formal amendment.

Miller said she had arranged for her chickens to live elsewhere while the issue is considered and offered to help the committee by answering questions about backyard poultry care and common concerns.

The policies and procedures committee will review the ordinance language and report back with any recommended changes for council consideration.