THUNDER BAY – The time is nigh when city council will have to decide whether or not to rise with the chickens.
Administration will present council with options on Monday that could create a bylaw for urban residents to raise up to six hens in their back yards.
The proposal would allow for caged quarters in rear lots of detached homes, provided the coops meet minimum spatial parameters, in and outside of the henhouse.
Ten square metres would have to be set aside for chicken coops. They would be located a minimum of three metres from property edges and be at least 7.5 metres from homes on adjacent lots.
Dedicated space would also be required for a covered manure container.
Owning roosters would not be allowed and slaughtering hens on urban residential properties would remain illegal.
City senior planner Thora Cartlidge believes the proposal addresses dissenting concerns the public has expressed over the noise, stench and debris that occurs when animals some traditionally see as livestock return to urban areas.
“It’s not livestock. These are really, by extension, productive, domestic pets with a purpose,” Cartlidge said.
“While companionship is certainly a part of that as I understand it – I don’t have chickens myself – the fact that they’re productive pets and that eggs are the product, it’s a reasonable expectation of people to have by keeping them.”
The city hasn’t allowed backyard chickens since the late 1950s but a recent resurgence in local and residential agriculture prompted the city to consider taking a stand.
The Thunder Bay & Area Food Strategy led community consultation that showed public support at a well-attended public meeting in April.
Strategy coordinator Kendal Donahue said her group is ready to help residents through the change.
“We’re prepared to take on public education that would make sure this bylaw succeeds to its full possibility,” she said.
“There’s all kinds of resources we could populate the food strategy’s website with. I know there are groups around the city who would be willing to host educational forums. Another thing I’ve seen in other cities I’d like to do here is coop tours. There are a lot of things to consider in how to manage manure and things like that.”
Administration will also offer council the option not to change the bylaw. Bylaw officers haven't proactively dismantled existing coops unless neighbours complain. Despite the existence of between 30 and 300 backyard chicken coops, the city has received less than five complaints over as many years.
As Donahue praised administration for crafting the proposed bylaw, she said only regulation-specific laws regarding chickens would be an appropriate endorsement for residents who wish to raise them.
“There’s an option to do nothing and leave it as a complaint-driven system -- which, with the bylaw it would be anyway – but something to keep in mind is there are a lot of people who would like to have chickens who are not wanting to do it in contraction to the bylaw,” she said.
“There are people who have them already that are worried about having heir coops called in if their neighbour complain.”
