Council waives second reading and advances ordinance restricting roosters, easing chicken permitting

The council considered Ordinance 26-17, which proposes changes to the city's animal and chicken-keeping code, including removing the permitting requirement for typical backyard chickens while retaining the code's standards and enforcement mechanisms.

Staff explained that land-use permits for chickens create disproportionate review burdens for what are often small residential situations and proposed treating typical chicken-keeping more like a licensing or animal-code matter rather than a full site-plan land-use permit. The planning commission recommended prohibiting roosters in all zones; a staff speaker plainly summarized that change: "Roosters in all zones."

Changes to the chart of permitted animals were discussed: for mid-size parcels the allowable number of certain animals would increase (examples discussed included increases from 2 to 6 for parcels in the 6,009—69,999 square-foot range and from 4 to 10 for larger parcels), and 4-H exceptions would remain for short-term, program-related animal care. The council opened and then closed the public hearing with no public speakers and then waived the ordinance reading; the waiver motion was seconded and approved by roll call as part of the consent/waiver process.

Staff said enforcement would continue to rely on existing code standards and code-enforcement responses for complaints rather than retaining the prior permitting pathway.