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Council moves to add crows to feeding prohibition; staff to draft ordinance
Summary
Following extensive public comment about nuisance and health concerns, the council directed staff to draft ordinance language that would explicitly prohibit feeding crows (option 1) and return with a revised code for adoption.
After a lengthy public discussion about aggressive and increasing crow activity in town, the Bandon City Council directed staff to revise the municipal code to explicitly prohibit feeding crows and to return a revised ordinance for council consideration next month.
Residents described property damage, public-health concerns and the birds' impacts on other songbird species. "Feeding crows has now altered their natural behavioral characteristics by being much more territorial and aggressive," said John Costa, a resident who urged restoring the original code language to name crows explicitly. Other commenters warned the council to craft language carefully to avoid penalizing people who do not intentionally feed birds.
Councilors discussed enforcement challenges but agreed to proceed with option 1 (revise the ordinance to include crows as a public nuisance and to allow citation for intentional feeding), asking staff to draft language that balances enforceability with protections for incidental, nonintentional feeding. The draft ordinance will return to council for formal adoption.
