By Aaron Mitchell
Otsego City Manager
Since last March, the City of Otsego has been discussing the possibility of allowing residential property owners to own chickens for the provision of eggs.
To kick things off, we had a few residents come to our City Commission meeting to discuss chickens in that month. They came with a good attitude, just wanting to start a conversation on chickens.
After that conversation, we reached out to the community to have a few public hearings on what they feel about residential chickens. As with all public hearings, we got voices of all kinds from both sides of the spectrum.
The longstanding domesticated animals’ ordinance has allowed for the City Manager to approve of a chicken or duck permit if: the property was over an acre in size and the birds were not harmful to the character of the neighborhood.
The problem with these requirements is that there are very few residential properties within the City over an acre and I am no chicken or duck expert. So, the response has always been to not allow any chickens or ducks in hopes of treating everyone equal.
That ordinance is not good for residents and not good for City administration, which makes a change good for everyone. We just had to figure out what that change looked like exactly.
During our discussions at City Commission meetings, we reviewed many different types of Chicken Ordinances from across the state. Some were very flexible and some were not.
The Commission’s goal was to make chickens (not ducks) available to those who are willing to follow our guidelines and make it so that those who do not want chickens do not feel like they were not heard. Once again, it comes down to that delicate balance between both sides—a common theme with most City Commission decisions.
What came out of those discussions was an affection for the City of Rockford ordinance. It was comprehensive and well assembled.
Many who opposed chickens were concerned with the aesthetics of having chickens in a residential neighborhood, and rightfully so. Rockford certainly has a reputation of being concerned with the aesthetics and visuals of their properties, so that gave everyone some confidence that it was a good model to review.
After we reviewed it, we could see why it would be adopted by the City of Rockford. It had all of the guidelines that we were looking for, and it spelled out specifics related to chicken coops, setbacks and maintenance requirements for permit owners.
In response, we modeled our guidelines off of their ordinance and it was recently approved at the Monday, July 7, meeting.
When it goes into effect around Aug. 1, a single-family residential property owner located within a single-family residential district with property of at least .4 acres may apply for an annual permit. To have the permit approved, residents must comply with multiple requirements in relation to location and maintenance of the chickens.
If that is awarded, they may have up to six hens (no roosters). Permits and complaints will be inspected by the Otsego Police Department.
While some may see the time frame of starting in March to getting something finalized in August as a long time, in the local-government world that is “lightning fast.” We have legal guidelines we must comply with and posting requirements, not to mention the fact that we have to create an ordinance that we like and that we can’t get sued over.
So, I am very pleased with getting that turned around as fast as we did. For any further questions or to get a Chicken Permit, feel free to stop by City Hall.
