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La Cygne council moves to draft new rules for backyard chickens after resident appeal
Summary
After a resident urged review citing rising food costs, the La Cygne City Council agreed on key limits — no roosters, no free-range chickens, and a ban in the C-3 district — and tasked police and codes staff to draft formal regulations for future consideration.
A La Cygne resident urged the City Council on Sept. 18 to revise the city’s rules for keeping chickens, citing the "rising cost of food" and providing examples from other towns. The council thanked the speaker and discussed whether to allow chickens on residential lots.
Council members coalesced around several specific limits: no roosters, no free-range (the council described that term as requiring chickens to be contained), a prohibition on chickens in the C-3 commercial district, and a position that slaughtering for personal use would be allowed while commercial slaughter would be prohibited. The council directed Police Chief Zachary Mathies and Codes Officer Devin Canada to draft ordinance language for future review.
The discussion began during public comment when Mellie Smith asked the council to consider updated regulations; Council members later took up the matter in the New Business portion of the agenda. The council’s summary of agreed points was recorded as "no roosters and no 'free range' would be allowed" and the council asked staff to return a draft for consideration at a future meeting.
The decision to ask staff for a draft is procedural: no ordinance was adopted at the Sept. 18 meeting. The next step is for Chief Mathies and the Codes Officer to prepare language addressing containment, permitted accessory structures (coops), any required registration or inspections, and enforcement steps for violations. The council also discussed whether coops would count as accessory buildings and whether an inspection/complaint-driven process would be warranted.
The council did not set a timetable for the draft’s return; the item will reappear on a future agenda when staff completes the recommended code language.
