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PrintCOLUMBIA — The Columbia Board of Health, after months of discussion and deliberation, failed to agree upon a recommendation to City Council on the proposed urban chicken ordinance.
The proposal would have allowed residents to raise chickens but require them to confine the birds in coops or fenced-in areas and obtain consent from owners of adjoining property.
As the board continued to deliberate details such as health risks and revocation of permits, they voted down the ordinance draft after the portion requiring neighbor permission was removed.
Although the Board of Health could not come to agreement, the council will most likely move ahead on a chicken ordinance, said Nathan Voris, recently-appointed Board of Health chairman.
The council asked the Board of Health for its recommendations, but because no agreement could be reached, the council will have to weigh both sides of the discussions that occurred among Board of Health members.
Stephanie Browning, Public Health and Human Services director, said the split on the board could reflect the split in the population of Columbia about the issue.
While some board members would not vote for an ordinance that did not require neighbor permission, other members simply did not think chickens have a place in urban areas at all.
Many board members made the connection between former board chairman David Sohl’s absence and the failure of the proposed chicken ordinance. Sohl wrote the recommended chicken ordinance but was not reappointed to the board.
Although the Board of Health is not sending any final recommendation to the council, the issue is “not going to die,” Voris said.
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Comments
>>> they voted down the ordinance draft after the portion requiring neighbor permission was removed. <<<
Now that is total Chicken S%#T removing that clause.
Literally!
I'm glad it was voted down if they are not going to want permission from the neighbors of these micro farms.
That's right Chuck, let's keep people from doing something on their private property that isn't going to impact their neighbors one iota. The nerve of some people, wanting to raise hens on their own land!
John Schultz ya we should just turn Columbia into a barn yard freak show shouldn't we.
Four chickens, the limit in the ordinance if my memory serves me, is far from a "barn yard freak show."
John Schultz Chickens would only be the start IMHO.I'm glad it was voted down.
Then you better get your tailfeathers to the council when it comes up there.