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<br /> Inver Grove Heights Council Debates Urban Chicken
<br /> Ordinance
<br /> Should the city allow residents to raise chickens in urban areas?ThaPs the question facing '
<br /> members of the Inver Grove Heights City Council.
<br /> �`'L� By David Henke Email the author September 28,2011 „
<br /> �� Email Print 40 Comments
<br /> ,� ,� � .,�„� Related Topics:Citv Council and Urban chickens '
<br /> �`+Y'{r `,�'�'�� `���� ; Should Inver Grove Heights community members be allowed to raise chickens in residential
<br /> . ,, �•�' �� neighborhoods?Tell us in the comments.
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<br /> Does a coopful of chickens in an urban area constitute a public nuisance?
<br /> That was the question at the core of a debate between members of the Inver Grove Heiafits Citv Council on Monday night,as they considered a new
<br /> orcJinance allowing local residents.to raise chickens within residential neighborhoods in the city.
<br /> Citv rec�ulations currently prohibits residents from raising chickens—and other farm or non-domestic animals—in districts that are not zoned for
<br /> agricultural use.But at least one council member,Rosemary Piekarski Krech,believes the city should ease its regulations to permit backyard chicken
<br /> coops.On Monday,the council directed city staff to create a formal draft of the proposed ordinance,which will likely retum to the council for approval later
<br /> this year.
<br /> During the work session,Councilor Bill Klein strongly opposed the proposed ordinance,saying the smell and noise of a chicken coop in residential
<br /> neighborhoods would create a public nuisance and lead to an enforcement headache for the city.Chicken coops,he added,may draw other predators,
<br /> like foxes and coyotes,deeper into the city,causing more problems for homeowners. -
<br /> °If you want chickens,move to a rural area,"Klein said."There's nothing thaYs gang to move me to vote for it."
<br /> But Piekarski Krech,who lives in an agricultural area and raises her own flock of chickens,believes that,with the advent of the sustainable food
<br /> mo4ement and the desire to eat locally,more and more people are interested in urban chidcens.
<br /> "With two or three hens,you can supply your whole family with eggs,"Piekarski Krech said.'I think iYs what people are doing,and it makes sense to me.°
<br /> If the ordinance is crafted correcUy,Piekarski Krech added,the potential for a public nuisance would be minimized.
<br /> Any ordinance permltting chickens in a residential area should prohibit roosters—which produce a lot of noise—limit the number of chickens a resident
<br /> can raise and require a minimum setback distance from other properties,City Planner Allan Hunting wrote in a memo provided to the council.
<br /> If the city were to draft an ordinance,Hunting added,it should require residents to confine iheir chickens in a coop at all times,allow coops only in the •
<br /> back yard of homes and require owners to apply for some kind of city-issued pertnit
<br /> http://invergroveheights.patch.com/articles/inver-grove-heights-council-debates-urban-chick... 7/6/2012
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