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Council adopts ordinance to curb nuisance‑level feeding of wild animals
Summary
Council approved ordinance 17‑56 amending the municipal code to address nuisance‑level feeding or attracting of wild animals after police reported multiple nuisance incidents; the ordinance targets situations that rise to a public‑health or nuisance standard rather than ordinary backyard bird‑feeding.
The City Council approved ordinance 17‑56 to address attracting or feeding wild animals when those activities rise to nuisance or public‑health levels. The measure passed first reading and then second reading and adoption unanimously.
West Linn’s police chief, who stayed late to brief council, said staff identified repeated incidents in which feeding created a public‑nuisance problem — notably skunk congregations — and that the existing code did not allow efficient response. "It was attracting skunks as an unintended consequence… we found several more over the last couple of years that we kinda tied to the same problem with our code," the chief said, explaining the public‑safety rationale for targeted code language.
During public comment, one resident urged caution about creating a new enforcement pathway and asked whether existing nuisance rules might suffice; council members responded that the revised ordinance is narrowly framed and emphasizes education and a nuisance threshold before enforcement. The council directed police to continue an educational first response and said the code change is intended for the smaller number of situations that escalate into a community health or nuisance problem.
