By Karen Haave
Crete residents, who have strong opinions about backyard chickens in the village, will have a chance to speak their minds during the upcoming Planning and Zoning Board meeting. Although the issue was not on the village board’s agenda for August 28, it did come up in brief comments during the Citizens Speak segment.
It will be on the September 28 agenda for the public hearing before the village Zoning Board of Appeals/Planning Commission. Their recommendation, in favor of or opposed to, will be forwarded to the village board, with the village board having the final say on the issue.
Backyard chickens have been a hot topic for debate since early this year when a resident asked the board of trustees to consider revising the ordinance that prohibits them.
Several board members formed a commission to study the proposal, with input given for an amendment to the ordinance. An amendment has been drafted, but not adopted by the board.
“The next step is for Planning and Zoning to look at the request,” Trustee Holly Millburn said. “That hearing tentatively has been scheduled for September 28. Their recommendation will be forwarded to the village board for consideration at the October 9 meeting.”
Residents will be permitted to address the issue during the Planning and Zoning Board hearing, Millburn said.
Residents who favor allowing backyard chickens say there is nothing better than truly fresh eggs. Proponents also have said raising laying hens can be a teaching experience for children, as well.
Those against the proposal, however, cite a multitude of reasons not to allow hens in a residential suburban area. For one thing, the average lot size in Crete is less than a quarter acre, and homes are very close together. As a result, what one neighbor does will affect the surrounding neighbors.
“While chickens eat bugs, their feed attracts pesky rodents,” Millburn explained recently. “They are quiet, but smell. Coyotes, hawks, snakes, and dogs will hunt and kill the chickens. How many missing dogs and cats do you hear about, each and every day? Who will gather the chickens when they are free-ranging off property? Our Code Enforcement Department is very busy – with only two employees – and with this revised ordinance, they will need to be versed in what breed of chicken can tolerate midwestern winters and which breed needs a heated coop to survive.”
Even if the village board adopts the revised ordinance, it will not allow unlimited numbers of chickens and lists specific requirements that would have to be met.
According to the amendment, there will be a limited number of licenses that will be available, a maximum of six chickens per home, hens only – no roosters, code enforcement must be allowed on property to approve the coop, and they must have neighbor approval or install a privacy fence.
At the same time, the hens must be kept on the owner’s property and, at night, must be kept in a coop.
Additionally, the amended ordinance stipulates that “no hen shall be bought, transported, and placed within a coop in the village in violation of 510 ILCS 85/2.1 (2016, as amended) of the Poultry Inspection Act, that is, unless the origin is a participant in the National Poultry and Turkey Improvement Plans for the eradication of pullorum and fowl typhoid, or is approved by the Illinois Department of Agriculture.”
Additional “miscellaneous regulations” stipulate all feed for hens shall be kept in rodent-proof containers until put out for consumption by the permitted hens being kept; no slaughter of chickens will be permitted; chickens “must not cause or create noise, odors, or other disturbances that are loud or malodorous enough to annoy or disturb the comfort, health, peace, or repose of reasonable persons of ordinary sensibilities. Any and all such noises and odors would declared a nuisance, and it is unlawful for any person to create, allow to persist, or refuse to abate such a nuisance upon demand.”
A license application fee of $50 would be required, along with a plat of survey that accurately depicts the property for which the license is sought, as well as the proposed location for the pen, coop, or other structure or enclosure. Licenses would need renewal on or before May of each year.
Hens would be for personal use only. No breeding would be allowed and no commercial activity may be involved. No sale or trading of eggs, excrement, chicks or hens for consumption, or any byproduct would be allowed, and no in-home occupation of chickens would be permitted.