Lafayette backyard chicken idea endorsed, even as council members raise questions

Advocates say it’s about time to allow egg-laying hens in the city. Plan could go to city council as soon as June.

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LAFAYETTE BACKYARD CHICKEN IDEA ENDORSED, EVEN AS COUNCIL MEMBERS RAISE QUESTIONS

A formal proposal that would allow Lafayette residents to keep chickens in their backyards could go to the Lafayette City Council as soon as June, a city council member who assembled a pair of public hearings on the idea in the past month said Thursday.

But during one of those sessions Thursday – one dominated by fans of having chickens out back – several city council members indicated they still had questions about whether rewritten city code should address additional questions about care of the birds, how to handle abandoning chickens by people whose initial excitement wanes once they get into the hobby and whether to allow backyard butchering when a hen’s egg-laying days are done.

(Photo: Unsplash)

“Obviously, everyone here’s passionate about it and would be responsible owners,” Lauren Ahlersmeyer, a city council member, said after 17 people spoke in favor of the concept. No one spoke against it Thursday. Similar numbers did the talking during a hearing in April.

“We have to also consider just as many who would not be,” Ahlersmeyer said. “That’s why we’re questioning. We’ve got to make sure we find a balance in an ordinance that covers both people who will be responsible and people who will not be.”

Eileen Hession Weiss, a city council member who called for the public hearings before taking something for a vote, said Thursday afternoon she thought people had made their case well enough that she was ready to bring the question to the full council.