Lafayette’s backyard chicken proposal: Final call coming Tuesday
A plan to allow up to five hens narrowly passed the city council in an initial vote last month. A final vote comes Tuesday. A 66% water rate increase proposal on the agenda, too. That and more.
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FINAL CALL COMING TUESDAY ON LAFAYETTE’S BACKYARD CHICKEN PROPOSAL
Last seen, Lafayette’s proposed backyard chicken ordinance – one that would allow residents to keep up to five hens under certain conditions – was one step away from passing, despite some serious objections from several city council members.
That 5-3 vote at the August meeting also came with a caveat from one city council member who said he was still open to persuasion, even though he’d voted yes to the proposal that night.
This is from the BiL edition right after that initial vote:
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.
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.”
That second and final vote is scheduled for Tuesday evening. Where do things stand now?
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