City chicken issue tabled -- for now
From our weekly issue dated July 29, 2009
A proposed amendment to a Cave Junction ordinance that would have OK’d having chickens for domestic purposes in city limits has been scuttled for the time being.
Wells Drive resident Heidi Kleve first approached the city council with the issue during its June 22 meeting. Kleve said that she wanted to amend Ordinance 8.08.030 to allow residents to have between three and five egg-laying hens.
The ordinance currently states that “no person shall keep or maintain livestock, swine, poultry, ruminant or pseudo-ruminant animals within the city.”
Mayor Don Moore was receptive to Kleve’s suggestion, and asked that a committee be formed to examine the issue. The committee subsequently met three times to devise recommendations, which Kleve presented to the council during its hour-long meeting on Monday night, July 27 in city hall.
Approximately 20 people were present for the meeting. Kleve said that many Oregon cities allow hens, including Portland, Grants Pass and Medford.
The committee’s recommendations included minimum setbacks and permitting and self-certification processes for would-be chicken owners. Kleve said that problem odors would be covered under existing city ordinances dealing with nuisances affecting public health.
The mayor opened the matter to public testimony. Wells Drive resident Tim Stetz said that he would “wholeheartedly support” the ordinance revision.
“It seems logical to me,” Stetz said.
River Street resident Daniel Dalegowski, a member of the urban chicken committee, said he favored that group’s proposal.
“I think it’s really important for food security,” he said.
However, Merlot Drive resident Julian Evans submitted an article to the council from the Los Angeles Times regarding problems that L.A. has had with urban chickens.
Evans recommended that any new ordinance exempt subdivisions in the city, and that chicken owners have a minimal lot size of three-quarters of an acre.
Moore suggested that the ordinance revision include a waiver system from the neighbors of property owners not meeting setback requirements.
But Councilor Margaret Miller said she is opposed to chickens in city limits. Miller said that if someone wants to raise chickens, they should move to the country. She added that bigger cities have code enforcement capabilities, which Cave Junction lacks, and that a self-regulating system would not work.
“I believe this ordinance was set in place for good reasons,” Miller said. “I see no reason to change it.”
Councilor Dan Fiske floated the legal theory that chickens are possessions, so the city can’t prohibit citizens from owning them anyway.
Fiske moved to table the proposed ordinance revisions, and Miller seconded. That motion passed 4-0, with Moore abstaining.
Moore said that City Recorder Jim Polk and City Attorney Patrick Kelly would look into Fiske’s legal theory before taking further action on the proposed revisions.
In other matters involving second readings of proposed ordinances, and public hearings during which no public testimony was offered, the council voted 5-0 to OK:
*An ordinance amending the boundaries of the city’s zoning map to reflect a change on a property at 1400 N. Sawyer Ave. from Multi-family Residential to Public Zoning.
*An ordinance amending the boundaries of the city’s zoning map to reflect a change affecting property at 553 E. River St. from Single Family Residential to Public Zoning.
*An ordinance amending the city’s solid waste franchise with Southern Oregon Sanitation.
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