Will new chicken ordinance come to roost?

The Lovell Town Council held a public forum about the proposed idea of allowing chickens to be owned inside town limits on Tuesday evening at the Lovell Community Center.

“This is a public forum, not a debate,” Lovell mayor Tom Newman said to open the meeting. “The intent is for us as a council to gather data.”

At the table at the door, a total of 71 townspeople signed in when they arrived and could designate whether they were for chickens, against chickens or neutral.

Out of those 71 in attendance, 36 residents (51%) were for allowing chickens in town, 27 (38%) were against and 8 (11%) remained neutral.

Mayor Newman urged those present to remain civil during the forum and respectfully allow those wishing to share their opinions to do so.

Members of the community were allotted two minutes to stand up to the podium and express their thoughts on chickens and why it would be beneficial or detrimental to them personally.

Sixteen individuals took the opportunity to let their opinions be heard to the members of the council.

Those who spoke on behalf of allowing chickens in town shared some common advantages such as food security, traceability, better taste and nutritional value of fresh eggs compared to store bought, along with pest control and composting from manure.

“It’s important for me to know where my food comes from,” resident Debbie McConnaughey said, speaking in favor of allowing the birds in town. “It is also valuable for me to have a sustainable food source with the food insecurities that are here in abundance now.”

Citizen Mike Snell also added, “It is about being self-sufficient. Most people have gardens, and if the ordinance is written properly, it can be done the right way.”

After Snell, LeAndra Rasmussen echoed the perks of raising her children to learn the value of being self-sustainable.

“We are all about raising our children and our families to be self-sustainable and to be able to understand where their food comes from and take responsibility in that.
I think it would be a great learning opportunity for my kids,” she said.

Melissa Slater moved to Lovell from Powell seven years ago and had chickens in her backyard for two years before she found out it wasn’t legal and had to get rid of them.

“They were a wonderful experience,” Slater said. “We had four hens and named them all and enjoyed going out and collecting the eggs every morning. It was very nice and clean, and they were no louder than our dog.”

For Mary and Logan Blau, who owned chickens in the middle of downtown Phoenix and now live in Lovell, it wasn’t about whether or not it was more affordable, it was about having the rights and freedoms to do so on their property.

“Frankly, whether or not it is more economical is a poor argument,” Logan Blau said. “You don’t get to choose what’s financially viable for me any more than I get to choose what is financially viable for other people. I just want to have the right and ability to legally own chickens in town.”

Logan Blau also addressed the claims regarding extra predators and diseases arguments, stating, “There isn’t a magic wall around the town that prevents predators from coming in or stops horrible diseases from coming into town, so these issues that people are worried about are actually not even issues.”

Ethan Rasmussen had researched the cons of the birds being allowed in towns and offered up some solutions to those, such as products that help reduce the smell of chicken coops, using construction sand and burying part of the fence to help keep prey from getting access to the chickens.

Former Lovell Police Department animal control officer Ron Salyer offered a unique perspective that he was unaware of chickens being owned in the backyards of homes on ninth street for many years and never had any issues with more animals, such as skunks or raccoons.

And lastly on behalf of allowing chickens, Sherry Snell said, “Grasshoppers were crazy this past year, and I think chickens would really help out with keeping them under control throughout the entire town.”

AGAINST CHICKENS

Some of the main concerns that were brought up during the meeting if chickens were to be allowed were how the ordinance would be enforced by the police department that is already spread thin with other ordinance issues, increases in unwanted predators coming into town, potential problems between neighbors and the concern that, if a chicken ordinance passes, it could lead to even more farm animals being allowed in town in the future.

Lovell resident Bill Skidmore and his family have lived in town just over three years, and he led off the arguments against chickens being allowed by pointing out that his biggest concern is whether existing ordinances are able to be enforced.

“What are the stipulations going to be, how many can people have, are they being penned correctly?” were some of the questions Skidmore had for the council.

Jodi Baxendale concurred with Skidmore about existing town ordinances that are already hard to administer, and she proposed the idea that property owners outside of town might be willing to allow members of the community to build or rent space for chicken coops to be used and still have the option to own chickens.

“I also foresee some problems with unwanted predators, but more than anything, I see this causing problems between neighbors,” Ken Bartle commented. “And if this gets pushed through, where does the line stop on what 4-H or FFA animals would be requested next?”

Judy Richards’ main point of emphasis was the diseases and health issues chickens could present to those community members with autoimmune diseases like emphysema, COPD or allergies.

“Most importantly, I care about the health and safety of all of the citizens of Lovell,” Richards said. “The spores that can be breathed in while cleaning up chicken poop can cause fevers, chills, headaches, muscle aches, dry cough, chest pains and more.”

Mike Anderson pointed out that, “Some people would have chickens and do a really good job of owning them and keeping them clean, but invariably, there would be some that wouldn’t.”

Daycare owner and operator Jennifer Leonhardt said she goes through over a dozen eggs a day feeding the kids in her care, and only one time in the last 10 years has she ever experienced a low supply or shortage from local rural providers.

“We have rights, too,” Leonhardt said. “We have rights to not listen to chickens. We have rights to not listen to the dogs. We have a right to build a fence and keep things out. So, we also have the right for no livestock in town.”

WHAT NEXT?

To conclude the forum, Mayor Newman thanked everyone for coming and sharing their thoughts.

“Our desire and goal is to do the right thing for everybody,” Newman said. “When you get conflicting ideas and ideals, regardless of how we move forward, someone is going to be disappointed and there is no way to please everybody.”

The town council will take the information and opinions shared and continue gathering comparable ordinances from other towns to figure out what decisions need to be made.

“But just so everyone is aware, any time an ordinance is considered, we come up with a rough draft and send it to legal counsel to review to make sure we aren’t breaking any laws,” Newman explained. “Then, at that point, it takes three readings in public meetings, which could be three months, so one way or another this isn’t something that is going to happen overnight.”

When asked if there would be a vote on a ballot, town administrator Jed Nebel clarified that, “Polling could possibly be done, but you cannot put town ordinances on a ballot to vote.”

If an ordinance is proposed, it would be made available for anyone to come and read at Town Hall as public information.