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Alpena council adopts ordinance restricting outdoor shelters and narrowing feeding practices for community cats after heated public comment
Summary
After more than an hour of public comment and council debate, Alpena’s City Council approved ordinance 25‑514, revising Chapter 10 of the city code to require caregivers of community cats to assume responsibility (including spay/neuter), to prohibit exterior shelters in certain circumstances, and to require removal of food overnight; council said the change gives staff tools to respond to nuisance complaints.
Alpena’s City Council adopted ordinance 25‑514 on Monday, April 20, 2026, revising the city’s animal code to address disputes over free‑roaming “community cats.” The ordinance, passed after a second‑reading debate and lengthy public comment, establishes caregiver responsibilities (including spay/neuter expectations), bans exterior shelters in certain circumstances and requires removal of food overnight when feeding becomes a nuisance to neighbors.
City Manager Rachel Smolinsky told the council the changes are intended to strike a balance between humane population control and neighbors’ complaints about cats congregating on adjacent properties. “The revised ordinance reflects a deliberate effort to balance compassion and responsibility,” Rachel said, adding that staff had met with TNR advocates and animal‑care partners and that the city will propose a modest increase to its existing humane‑society contract to support TNR work.
Residents who spoke during public comment urged opposing views. Nancy Mcwain, who identified herself as a resident, said last‑minute edits turned a proposed feeding ban into a ban on shelters and accused the mayor of a conflict of interest, saying the mayor also serves with a local humane organization. “Banning shelters is not humane,” Mcwain said. Volunteers and TNR supporters described their experience trapping, neutering and returning cats, arguing that managed feeding and shelters reduce suffering and curb reproduction. “TNR supported by responsible feeding and sheltering is how we get there,” one volunteer said.
Councillors said they received a high volume of public input and wrestled with how to protect both residents’ quality of life and animals’ welfare. “We take care of people here — and that sometimes means we need tools to solve neighbor‑to‑neighbor problems,” Mayor Johnson said. Several council members urged more precise language about what qualifies as a prohibited “exterior shelter” and directed staff to work with advocacy groups on clarifying amendments, but a motion to adopt the ordinance carried on the second reading.
Council and staff said the ordinance is intended to be an enforceable tool for addressing specific nuisance complaints — such as repeated defecation on private property or food left out overnight that draws other wildlife — and not a broad enforcement campaign against caregivers who responsibly participate in TNR. Rachel said the city will continue to support TNR activities and is proposing an additional $5,000 allocation to the humane society contract in the coming fiscal year to support spay‑neuter work.
The council said it will monitor implementation and return to amend the code if language around shelters or enforcement proves unworkable. The ordinance was adopted by roll call; the council recorded the motion as carried. The city manager and staff will provide drafting clarifications requested by council members before final administrative implementation.
