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Lake Stevens council debates banning roosters, moves pet‑licensing change toward consent agenda
Summary
Staff proposed outlawing roosters citywide and replacing the city dog/cat license with a collar-or-chip requirement. Council members were split: some favored a ban to address repeated noise complaints, others urged protections for long‑standing owners, lot‑size exemptions and a delayed enforcement window; pet‑licensing language was moved toward consent next week.
City staff on July 14 asked the Lake Stevens City Council for guidance on updates to Chapter 5 of the municipal code covering animal regulations, proposing two separate changes: prohibit roosters within city limits and remove the city’s dog-and-cat licensing requirement in favor of requiring collars with contact information or microchipping.
Christy Schmidt, planning manager, told the council staff had received more than 21 complaints and that the police had responded to about 19 nonemergency calls related to roosters in the last year. Staff said education and outreach would accompany any change and that the goal is compliance first, enforcement only if necessary. "A lot of these complaints...people will typically make the decision to rehome the rooster," Schmidt said, explaining the difficulty of controlling rooster noise compared with barking dogs.
Council reaction was mixed. Several members said roosters can create persistent noise that is not easily mitigated, and one council member argued the city needs to update rules consistent with its changing, more urban character. Other members expressed concern about abrupt rule changes for residents who have kept fowl under existing pasture-plan rules for years. Suggestions included limiting a prohibition to small-lot neighborhoods, exempting lots above a certain size or with existing pasture plans, and delaying enforcement until the start of the following year to give owners time to comply or rehome animals.
On the pet-licensing proposal staff noted the city issues roughly 244 animal licenses annually with average revenue around $1,800; eliminating the licensing fee would have minimal fiscal impact and could free staff time. Several council members supported moving the pet-licensing language to the consent agenda next week so the simpler change could proceed while staff reworks the rooster proposal with council input and potentially forwards a refined draft to the Planning Commission.
Staff will return with revised rooster-code language that addresses council members’ concerns about grandfathering, lot-size exemptions and a reasonable compliance timeline.
