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Resident urges council to raise backyard-chicken permits and cut fees
Summary
At the April 20 council meeting, resident Elizabeth Hburger asked Berkeley to increase the city’s cap on backyard-chicken permits, citing an 11-person wait list and higher permit fees than neighboring cities.
Elizabeth Hburger, who said she has lived in Berkeley since 2020, urged the City Council to amend local ordinances governing backyard chickens to allow more permits and larger hen allotments per permit. Hburger told the council the city currently allows five active backyard-chicken permits for the entire city and that she believes there is a waiting list of 11 people wanting permits.
Hburger also said Berkeley’s annual permit fee — she cited $80 a year — is higher than in nearby communities and offered to leave a spreadsheet with the clerk comparing local rules and fees. "There’s certainly a demand for increasing the number of permits," she said, adding that backyard poultry has been personally meaningful to her.
The council did not take action on the request during the meeting. Staff or council members may follow up at a future meeting or direct staff to study fee and permit limits; no formal direction or motion on the backyard-chicken ordinance was recorded in the minutes of April 20.
