Council continues debate on fowl ordinance, asks staff to refine draft for vote

The council held an extended discussion about a proposed ordinance that would allow chickens, ducks, quail, and pigeons on single-family properties with a baseline five-bird limit and options to increase to a maximum of 15 birds subject to acreage and neighbor approval. Staff explained the draft would allow a 5-bird limit by right, provide an additional permitting route requiring 75% adjacent-neighbor approval, and permit up to 10 additional birds where a property has at least three acres of backyard area. The draft also included setbacks, nuisance/noise protections and sanitary measures.

Councilmembers raised multiple concerns and questions: how acreage would be measured (backyard vs. total parcel), whether fences or visibility would affect the definition of "backyard," predator and public-safety risks (coyotes were discussed as an existing local concern), insect-control language that might require insecticide use, and how to treat hobby pigeons and show birds differently from poultry kept for eggs. Several councilmembers said they had received both supportive and critical public input; others emphasized placing control in neighbors' hands via the 75% approval provision.

No final vote was taken. Staff were asked to bring back a clarified, finalized ordinance at the next meeting that addresses the questions raised (definitions of backyard and adjacent neighbor boundaries, insecticide language, permit procedures, administrative fee structure and how specific uses or rezones would be handled). The council noted that larger-scale or commercial uses would likely require rezoning or a specific-use permit rather than being covered by a general backyard-fowl ordinance.