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Bettendorf resident asks council to consider allowing backyard chickens for household eggs and youth chores
Summary
A Bettendorf resident urged the city council to allow backyard chickens, citing rising egg prices, nutrition benefits and educational opportunities for children; council asked staff to research the idea and report back for possible future consideration.
Stelara Roth, a Bettendorf resident, told the City Council on April 15 she and her family are seeking permission to keep backyard chickens in residential areas to provide affordable eggs and opportunities for children to learn responsibility. “I'm here with my husband, Mason, and our kiddos tonight, and we're seeking the city council's approval to possibly allow chickens in the residential areas of Bettendorf,” Roth said from the public podium, giving her address as 2220 Avalon Court.
Roth said home eggs can be much less expensive than store prices and described practical and health reasons for wanting to raise chickens, including nutrient benefits for pregnant women and personal experience with family members who keep chickens. She described how caring for chickens can teach chores and initiative to young children.
Alderman Scott Nauman spoke with Roth beforehand about her interest, she said. Mayor Robert Gallagher told Roth the topic has been raised repeatedly in previous goal-setting meetings and that staff will continue to research the issue and report back. “We'll have staff continue to research the issue and report back so that when we reconvene in October for our goal setting, we'll take it up again as an issue that we might be interested in for next year,” Gallagher said.
The council did not take any formal action at the meeting. The mayor indicated staff will investigate regulatory and implementation considerations before any ordinance or code changes would be proposed.
Why it matters: Allowing backyard chickens could affect residential zoning enforcement, public-health and animal-welfare oversight, neighborhood compatibility, and local food resilience. The council's instruction to staff begins a review process but does not change city code.
Meeting context: The item was raised during the public-requests portion of the agenda; council members noted the issue recurs at periodic goal-setting sessions and asked staff to prepare background for future consideration.
Next step: Staff to research legal/regulatory options and return to council; council may place the matter on a future agenda for consideration during goal-setting in October.
