City needs ordinance, not policy, on backyard chickens

To the Editor,At the October 6 city council study session concerning backyard chickens in Tecumseh, council members said the issue requires further consideration and decided an additional study session at a later date would be necessary.Among the topics discussed was the manner of implementation of a chicken ordinance, should they decide to proceed. Several council members expressed their support for an “internal written policy” addressing chickens, versus an actual ordinance.Although this may seem an insignificant distinction at first glance, it really is not.The city manager has recommended keeping the existing ordinance, in which chickens are banned (along with chimpanzees and alligators, among others). The existing ordinance indicates that residents can apply to the city manager, on an individual basis, for “prior written permission” to keep any of those banned animals.Under the proposed new policy, residents asking permission to keep chickens would be told “yes” — rather than being told “no,” which is the current policy. However, since city policies are internal and not made public, we’re concerned that those policies could be subject to selective enforcement, change without notice, or other abuses. Councilman VanAlstine, expressing his preference for a policy over an ordinance, said, “Policies can be adjusted as occurrences dictate.”This is the point that concerns us. Ordinances are less prone to variable interpretation.We believe it’s far better to have a clear, fair, and well-thought-out ordinance on the books that would be completely accessible to the general public, versus an “internal policy,” which is not. Such an ordinance would spell out residents’ rights as well as responsibilities and would be applied equally to all, which is the essence of good lawmaking. It also promotes more, rather than less, transparency in government — always a good thing.You can read the existing ordinance by going to https://-www.municode.com/library/mi/tecumseh/codes/code_of_ordinances and typing “chicken” in the search box.Lee WalshAdministrator, Tecumseh Backyard Chickens