Backyard chickens, anyone?

Lafayette ready to take another look at allowing hen houses. Two public meetings set, including one Thursday.

• Thanks today for ongoing help from Based in Lafayette sponsor Long Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Lafayette. For tickets and details on all the shows and events, go to longpac.org.

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BACKYARD CHICKENS, ANYONE?

The on-again, off-again attempts to allow backyard chickens in Lafayette is back on again, with a pair of public meetings set on whether to update city codes about livestock in the city.

The first meeting will be Thursday at Lafayette City Hall.

“I was approached by some residents in the city relative to an ordinance possibility,” city council member Eileen Hession Weiss said during last week’s council meeting. “I met with the residents, I have met with the city attorney, I met with the mayor, and we are going forward with this in an orderly manner. … Please come and voice your opinions, pro or con, and we will have that discussion in a good, responsible manner and talk about it. And then we will make the decision as to whether we will go forward to propose an ordinance on this.”

(Photo: Unsplash)

A draft proposal would allow households to have up to five hens, but no roosters, for noncommercial use. It also lays out proposed requirements about chicken coops, care and maintenance of the birds and their surroundings, and a fine structure for violations.

In 2009, after complaints about a handful of hens at a house in Highland Park, a city council committee declined to change a city livestock ordinance, leaving the urban chicken movement behind in Lafayette.

Several other efforts to change the city’s mind followed but never got much traction.

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, goat ... peacock, turkey, cow, llama or other livestock.” (Those restrictions in city code do not apply to zoos, “bona fide circuses or carnivals.”)

By comparison, West Lafayette’s city code does not specifically mention chickens, and coops in residential neighborhoods are not uncommon there.

A draft of the proposed Lafayette ordinance offers that “the keeping of chickens in residential areas, subject to reasonable regulations, can provide benefits such as access to fresh eggs and educational opportunities while promoting sustainability and self-sufficiency.”

Among the provisions in the proposed ordinance:

• Chickens must be housed in a secure coop and pen.

• The coop must be at least 18 inches high and provide at least one-square-foot per chicken.

• The pen must provide at least two-square-feet per chicken and be predator-proof.

• Structures must be at least 20 feet from any home and 10 feet from property lines.

• Coops would need to be predator-proof with a fence that goes no more than six feet off the ground.

• Coops would be restricted to backyards.

• 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.”

• Owners also would be required to provide access to fresh water and food for chickens and to isolate chickens that are sick or diseased.

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

The proposed ordinance says that, if passed, it would not override homeowners association rules, private restrictive covenants or deed restrictions that regulate chicken coops in some neighborhoods.

• If you go: The Lafayette City Council’s ordinance committee will host a pair of meetings to discuss and take public comment about a proposed ordinance that would allow residents to keep hens in their yards. The first will be noon Thursday, April 17, at Lafayette City Hall, 20 N. Sixth St. The second will be at 5 p.m. May 8, also at city hall.

To see a copy of the ordinance, here’s a link.

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THIS AND THAT/OTHER READS …

• Indiana House Democrats aren’t the only ones knocking Senate Bill 1. Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith said on social media over the weekend that the governor should reject the latest property tax reform plan produced by the Indiana General Assembly. Indianapolis Star reporter Brittany Carloni had this: “Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith urges Gov. Mike Braun to veto property tax relief plan in Senate Bill 1.”

• States Newsroom reporter Paige Gross had an interesting look at the rise of data centers in the age of AI. From the piece published in the Indiana Capital Chronicle, touted as the first to two parts: “The next time you’re on a Zoom meeting or asking ChatGPT a question, picture this: The information zips instantaneously through a room of hot, humming servers, traveling hundreds, possibly thousands of miles, before it makes its way back to you in just a second or two. … As the United States works to be a global AI superpower, it’s become a home to hundreds of data centers — buildings that store and maintain the physical equipment needed to compute information. For users of the new and increasingly popular AI tools, it might seem like the changes have been all online, without a physical footprint. But the rise of AI has tangible effects — data centers and the physical infrastructure needed to run them use large amounts of energy, water and other resources, experts say.” Here’s a way into the rest of the reporting: “As demand for AI rises, so do power thirsty data centers.”

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ICYMI, THE BALLAD OF SHEILA KLINKER: Hear the story about how songwriter Sharon McKnight’s tribute to state Rep. Sheila Klinker, “Sheila Can’t Stay Home,” has become an instant classic after its debut Friday night.

Thanks, again, for ongoing help from Based in Lafayette sponsor Long Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Lafayette. For tickets and details on all the shows and events, go to longpac.org.

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