Proposal for backyard chickens draws crowd to council meeting

At a study session before Tecumseh City Council’s regular meeting on Monday, Oct. 6, residents packed city hall to hear council discuss two possible policy changes. However, the abundance of public comments left little time for council to discuss either issue, deciding to revisit both issues in future study sessions. The two issues at hand were allowing city residents to keep backyard chickens and to regulate office space in the B-2 Business (downtown) district. Eight public comments were made regarding the backyard chickens, with residents affirming their beliefs on both sides of the issue. Tecumseh resident Lee Walsh, the head of the campaign advocating for backyard chickens, criticized some of Tecumseh City Manager Kevin Welch’s recommendations to council, specifically calling out the idea of allowing for a policy change as opposed to an ordinance. “If it was an actual ordinance that spelled out these are the rules about chickens, it is clear what they are,” said Walsh. “You don’t have to call up for permission because it is part of the public record. It would spell out our rights as residents as well as our responsibilities to be responsible pet owners. We need an actual ordinance and we need that ordinance to be clear and concise and fair.” Currently, the city has a policy that allows residents to keep Vietnamese potbelly pigs. Welch said that policy has worked fairly well. “As far as enforcement, City Attorney Scott Baker and I talked about whether enforcement is any different with the policy versus the ordinance and we don’t believe it’s any different,” added Welch. “If we’re going to adopt an ordinance, it will take several steps.”A study session is held so council members can learn more about a topic without having to vote on it. The recommendations Welch presented to council are just possibilities council could use in creating any ordinance or policy change. LeAnn Tripp, who owns 7.9 acres of land on the edge of Tecumseh’s city limit asked council to consider taking the amount of land a person owns into consideration if they choose to pursue allowing backyard chickens.“It would seem reasonable for us with that much acreage to be able to have chickens,” Tripp added. Those who voiced their opinion in opposition to backyard chickens raised concerns about chickens affecting home values, along with attracting wild animals like hawks and coyotes. “The first thing I would be concerned about with backyard chickens would be the value of our homes and the resale of our homes,” said Tecumseh resident Vicki White. “Obviously, I am not in favor of backyard chickens. I think they belong in rural areas.” Resident Oriean Clayton raised concerns about not wanting chickens in the subdivision he lives in, and if such an allowance was to pass, inspections should be included. “If this, by chance, would go through, they have to be inspected,” said Clayton. “There will be abuse, there’s just no doubt. There will be time spent from the city, whether it be the police or someone else checking it out. It’s just another waste of time.” One recommendation that Welch made was having neighbors sign off on allowing chickens. Clayton agreed that this would be something he would support. “And as far as neighbors approving it, obviously, I am all for it,” Clayton added. “In the subdivision over here by Red Maple, there’s no way I want chickens in that subdivision. It’s a nice subdivision and I want to leave it that way.”Walsh said that such a requirement, which Ann Arbor has, could cause problems and spur neighbors holding grudges against one another. Mayor Richard Johnson had concerns that if the city allows chickens, would ducks or goats be requested next. “Where is this going to end, I guess is my biggest concern with this,” Johnson said. Council member Laurence Van Alstine Jr. expressed his opinion that a policy was the way to go. “It [backyard chickens] seems a little below the dignity of an ordinance,” said Van Alstine. “Policy can be changed as occurrences present themselves.”Council felt that more time would be needed before deciding how to move forward regarding backyard chickens. A future study session will be scheduled on the issue. Council had little time to dive into the complexities of restricting office space on the first floor in downtown businesses. The topic was last discussed previously in 2010, but council took no action then.“There’s a whole host of different things and I guess what we’re here to discuss is whether we want to talk about this further,” said Welch. “This is not going to be the kind of ordinance that we’re going to get done in one meeting. But I think the initial discussion is do we want to discuss this again?”Welch said that communities with similar regulations cannot pinpoint the benefit of retail space in their downtowns directly to office use restrictions. “You don’t know what would have occurred naturally,” Welch added. “Depending on how you look at it, it works.”“I’d like to point out that when we start surveying other communities, none of those communities are Tecumseh,” added Johnson. Council member Ron Wimple said that what Tecumseh has been doing is working to bring retail downtown.“I don’t want to stop what Tecumseh has just because there are a few people up here that think there’s a better way of doing something and we end up losing what we have,” Wimple added.Council told Welch to bring options back in a future study session for discussion.

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