Hatching the Rewrite, or Something to Cluck About

During a recent trip to Key West, Pensacola City Councilman Larry Johnson discovered the island had a large chicken population. When he went out for lunch, the birds roamed freely around his feet.

“In Key West, they have chickens everywhere,” Johnson told his fellow council members during Monday’s Committee of the Whole meeting.

Upon returning to Pensacola, the councilman—along with the rest of the board—took up the chicken issue, as it pertains to the urban farming movement. During its Monday meeting, the Pensacola City Council tentatively approved a rewrite of the city’s ordinance dealing with keeping chickens within the municipality’s limits. The changes are a nod to backyard chicken enthusiasts, who have worked for several months with city staff on the rewrite effort.

“It’s much more restrictive, but it adds a caveat for urban farmers,” explained Councilwoman Sherri Myers, who was instrumental in the effort. “In a nut shell, it’s much tougher.”

Currently, city residents may keep an unspecified number of chickens on their property. However, a requirement that the birds be kept in an enclosure located 50 feet away from any structure—including the resident’s own dwelling—means a vast majority of residents can’t logistically enjoy the practice.

The rewritten ordinance—approved 8 to 1 during last night’s Committee of the Whole meeting—limits the number of chickens a person may keep to eight. It also decreases the required distance from a structure to 30 feet, not counting a resident’s own house.

“I think this ordinance is very reasonable,” Myers told her fellow council members.

The city council has been discussing the backyard chicken issue for the past several months. Local urban farmers—hailing mainly from the East Hill neighborhood—worked with city code enforcement officials to rewrite the ordinance. The group studied other locale’s efforts to accommodate urban farming, a growing trend across the country.

Another change in the ordinance will allow backyard chickens to be free-roaming. While residents must have a coop for the animals, they can also roam freely around their enclosed yard. The rewritten ordinance will also disallow roosters, due to noise concerns.

Some other concerns were also raised during Monday’s council meeting. There was a suggestion from a member of the public that residents be required to get the approval of their surrounding neighbors before launching into their backyard chicken venture.

While Councilwoman Maren DeWeese said the council might want to revisit the issue of requiring a permit for such activity sometime in the future, no one on the board seemed too keen on requiring chicken keepers to gain their neighbor’s approval of the practice—Councilman Brian Spencer said such a requirement would lead to surrounding residents  exercising “unreasonable control over their chicken-loving neighbor.”

Citizens that have spoken in support of keeping backyard chickens—some of whom had run-ins with code enforcement, which triggered the rewrite—had explained during previous council meetings that they enjoyed the fresh eggs provided by the animals, and also considered them as pets. The rewritten ordinance provides for such, but specifically forbids residents from slaughtering the birds for food.

“A person can’t raise a chicken, wring its neck and eat it like they did years ago when they raised chickens?” asked Councilman Ronald Townsend. “There are some folks who do that, you know?”

“I like chicken, myself,” said Steve Wineki, head of the city’s code enforcement, explaining that Councilwoman Myers had requested that aspect of the rewrite.

“I use to try to do it,” Townsend said, recounting his attempts to wring chicken necks. “But the chicken would get up and run.”