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Resident urges council to allow backyard chickens; offers to help with inspections
Summary
Ashford Hellcamp urged the City of Montrose to adopt a backyard-chicken ordinance and offered to help inspect coops; councilors discussed past hearings, enforcement challenges, and neighbor-notification options used by other cities.
Ashford Hellcamp told the City Council she and her family want Montrose to allow backyard chickens and that she brought sample ordinances from Minneapolis as a model.
“I grew up on a farm. I have had animals most of my life,” Hellcamp said, adding that chickens can increase household self-sufficiency, help manage insects, and provide compost for gardens. She volunteered to help inspect coops and urged the council to try a limited pilot rather than permanently ban the practice.
Councilors and staff responded that the issue has been presented multiple times to planning and zoning, but each prior hearing lacked visible public support in favor. One councilor said enforcement of animal-related ordinances (dogs, cats) has already been a challenge and that allowing chickens would add inspection needs. Staff and councilors discussed neighbor-notification provisions used in Minneapolis and St. Paul as possible compromise approaches.
No ordinance vote was held. Chair and multiple council members encouraged the petitioner to organize grassroots support, including signatures and turnout at planning-and-zoning hearings, before the council advances a change in the city code.
