Backyard chicken plan survives split Lafayette City Council vote … for now

Initial hearing lays a 5-3 vote, though council members on the fence leave option open to change their minds on final vote in September as opponents start to emerge.

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BACKYARD CHICKEN PLAN SURVIVES SPLIT LAFAYETTE CITY COUNCIL VOTE … FOR NOW

A proposal that would allow Lafayette residents to raise and keep up to five hens in their backyards squeaked through Monday night on an initial 5-3 city council vote that came with a bit of a warning from a couple of council members.

If opposition mounts ahead a second and final vote in September, some votes could change.

“When we had it last time, I was a hard no,” Kevin Klinker, one of five council members who voted for the backyard chicken ordinance, said, referring to a similar proposal more than a decade ago.

(Photo: Unsplash)

Yet, Klinker said he’d sat through two public hearings on the current proposed ordinance that brought nearly unanimous encouragement for the concept. He said feedback from constituents ran 50-to-1 – including support from the head of Lafayette’s animal control. But he straddled things Monday night, voting yes while harboring doubts – particularly as a contingent emerged against the idea, making up roughly half the public comment to the city council Monday night.

“I have folks that in my neighborhood that if they don't get a letter from the city, they don't mow their lawn,” Klinker said. “So, if those people were to get chickens, what's that going to be like? The thing that has changed my mind, though, is … that percentage I was talking about earlier and the fact that animal control is willing to take this on, as well. But that's not a guarantee for our second reading at this point.”

The three votes against the proposed ordinance – from council members Bob Downing, Mellisa Weast-Williamson and Jerry Reynolds – were adamantly opposed. Downing said chickens in the city were “something we don’t need,” concerned that the birds could pit neighbors against one another. Weast-Williamson called it “a terrible idea,” that chickens “don’t belong in the city” and would draw predators, including coyotes already seen in town. Reynolds, who grew up on a farm, called chickens “filthy.”

Eileen Hession Weiss, a council member who helped usher the proposal through a series of hearings before sponsoring the ordinance, said it wasn’t fair to penalize those who would raise chickens responsibly because there were fears that some would not.

“I have been very impressed with the people that have come forward wanting to have this ordinance,” Hession Weiss said before Monday’s vote. “They are very responsible people, and I think that they probably want it for all the right reasons.”

Council member Perry Brown echoed that, even after hearing some opponents from Highland Park comment Monday night that there already were chickens being kept clandestinely in their neighborhood.

“People have chickens in town already,” Brown said. “We have no control over that, whatsoever. I’m in favor of this ordinance because it puts us out ahead of the problem so we can step in and deal with it. If we don’t have an ordinance, it ain’t like the chickens are going to go away. … I’m saying, let’s try this.”

Hession Weiss, Brown and Klinker were joined in voting yes by council members Lauren Ahlersmeyer and Steve Snyder. (Council President Nancy Nargi typically does not vote except to break ties.)

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The current Lafayette City Code prohibits keeping or breeding a long list of livestock in city limits, putting chickens in with “a horse, goat, pony, mule, donkey, jackass ... peacock, turkey, cow, llama or other livestock.” Those restrictions in city code do not apply to zoos, “bona fide circuses or carnivals.”

According to the proposed ordinance:

• Residents would be able to have up to five hens per address for noncommercial use.

• No roosters would be allowed.

• Residents keeping hens would need to get a permit from the city, to help the city maintain a record of active chicken flocks. The proposal says the permit would be free.

• Some form of identification, such as a leg band, would have to be used to support compliance and help return of any escaped animals.

• Coops and pens would have to meet minimum size requirements, be equipped to protect against predators, with structures for the hens being at least 20 feet from any neighboring home and 10 feet from property lines.

• Owners would be required to operate “in such a manner to not constitute a public nuisance or disturb neighboring residents due to noise, odor or damage.”

• Violations of the ordinance, if passed, would bring fines of up to $250 per day.

• The proposed ordinance said that if passed, it would not override homeowners association rules, private restrictive covenants, deed restrictions or terms of rental lease agreements that regulate chicken coops in some neighborhoods.

The proposed ordinance would come with a one-year sunset provision, meaning it would automatically expire unless renewed by city council in 2026.

Christine Poquette, a Lafayette resident who initiated the conversation early in 2025 leading to Monday’s vote, said she was looking forward to the chance to get to raise hens and gather fresh eggs from the backyard. She said she was excited for others to partake in raising them “and get to know hens in a new way as their own pets,” something she called incredibly rewarding.

On Monday, she urged the city council to look at other cities across the state that already allowed chickens and to follow their lead.

Claire Freeman, who lives in the Perrin Neighborhood, said the people coming to the council took the question of backyard chickens seriously.

“We want the opportunity to prove to the community that we can do this,” Freeman said. “And if we're not good owners, then that's fine, we'll accept those consequences.”

Concerns from an opposition that emerged Monday included those about property values, sanitation, noise and the prospects of enforcement that would require neighbors to call out neighbors about potential violations.

Stephanie Hainje, who lives in Highland Park, told the council that lots were too small in her neighborhood for backyard chickens and that the ordinance would cause neighborhood conflicts. Jen Stevens, who also lives in Highland Park, said chickens were already being kept near her home and were loud – even without a rooster in the mix – and brought concerns about rodents and sanitation connected to coops.

“I also question what kind of burden that puts on animal control,” Stevens said. “Do we have the manpower to do that?”

Sarah Goans, the city’s chief animal control officer, spoke in favor of the ordinance, as she had during a process that started in the spring. She said her officers were prepared for the call load.

“I think that we may have an influx of chickens, if this gets passed,” Goans said. “There's obviously going to be a lot of education that has to happen, I think. And then I think it'll kind of dwindle down to the people that truly want to have chickens for the right reasons – a couple of fresh eggs, teach their children about life, things like that.”

• To read the proposed ordinance, here’s a link.

• What’s next: The Lafayette City Council is expected to take a second and final vote on the backyard chicken ordinance at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 2, at city hall, 20 N. Sixth St.

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