May 10, 2011

US Plymouth residents request lifting of urban chicken ban

A group of residents in the US state of Plymouth have asked city leaders to lift Plymouth's decades-old ban on backyard chickens.

The residents say the chickens would be used to produce fresh eggs for personal consumption only, which has become increasingly popular in urban areas throughout the country and in Wisconsin, as more people become interested in local and sustainable food sources.

Citizens have asked that the city consider issuing permits for residents to keep up to seven hens and a chicken coop in their yards.

The city Plan Commission met Thursday (May 5) to discuss the proposal and now will review similar measures that have been adopted in other cities allowing backyard chickens.

The commission could decide as early as June on whether to draft a preliminary ordinance for further consideration and to schedule a public a hearing on the matter.

The proposal comes as a growing number of Wisconsin communities consider whether to allow urban chickens in response to heightened interest by urban dwellers in using the animals as a food source that's both inexpensive and environmentally friendly.

In the past year alone, River Hills, Green Bay, Oshkosh, and Neenah, among others have all eased restrictions, or enacted ordinances allowing backyard chickens, while a few others have upheld or enacted bans, including Waupun and Shorewood.

Sheboygan and Sheboygan Falls have allowed residents to keep chickens, but in both cities the animals can be removed if found to be a nuisance to neighbours, and in Sheboygan, a city ordinance requires the chickens be kept in sanitary conditions.

Brian Yerges, city services director, said Plymouth's existing ban applies to all farm animals and has been on the books for decades, though the Plan Commission is receptive to reconsidering it when it comes to chickens.