Backyard chickens OK’d permanently after initial test in Lafayette
Plus, more from Lafayette and West Lafayette city council meetings, including new false alarm fees and a move to bond for Lafayette Theater in Lafayette, while WL pulls a tax abatement for Inari.
Thanks for ongoing support 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.
BACKYARD CHICKENS OK’D PERMANENTLY AFTER INITIAL TEST IN LAFAYETTE
Fans of backyard chickens in Lafayette will be allowed to keep their flocks, after the city council agreed Monday to renew an ordinance approved a year earlier that cleared the way for coops for hens in residential neighborhoods.
Council members had plenty of questions about how the first year of permits for backyard chickens had gone, but the controversy that led to a narrow approval in 2025 was stripped away Monday night when the council faced a self-imposed one-year sunset provision.
The council, which passed the initial ordinances on a 5-4 vote, voted 7-0 Monday to make the ordinance permanent. (Council member Lauren Ahlersmeyer was absent; the council president, Melissa Weast-Williamson, typically does not vote other than to break ties. They were among the no votes for the initial proposal in 2025.)
Monday night, Sarah Goans, the city’s chief animal control officer, vouched for continuing to allow chickens, give the experience during the first year.
