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Chickens get green light

By
Hannah Gross, NLJ Correspondent

After a seventh-month battle for the right to raise backyard chickens, fowl fans were granted their wish by the Newcastle City Council, which officially adopted the ordinance after its third reading on Dec. 5, 2022. The ordinance was approved on all three readings, with councilman Don Steveson as the sole naysayer each time. 
“I’m very excited that the chicken ordinance passed, and I feel like I fulfilled a campaign promise when I got elected to the City Council,” Councilman Tyrel Owens said.
After several back-and-forth discussions and reviews due to concerns raised by various parties, the finalized ordinance addresses some of the concerns, including coop upkeep, permit applications and violation fees.
According to Section 6.c.(3) R-1, subparagraph 3(g), to acquire a permit, which is good for one year, interested persons must submit an application with a $20 fee. A suggested requirement to obtain neighbors’ consent was removed before the ordinance’s final approval. 
Only six chickens, which must be hens, are permitted to each lot, and each chicken must have 3 square feet of interior space. The coop has to be covered, fully enclosed and predator-resistant and must be cleaned once every two weeks.
Those in violation of any of the ordinance’s requirements are subject to a fine of $20 per violation. If any chickens are found running loose, the chicken owner must pay a $20 fine for its return, in addition to a $3 per day fine each day the chicken is lost to cover the city’s expenses for housing and upkeep.
Councilman Don Steveson said that he is not against the ordinance itself because citizens should have the right to do what they want on their own property, but all of the constituents that came to him were against the ordinance, and he wanted to give them a voice. 
“I was trying to support my constituents,” Steveson said. “I felt I was supporting the voices that came to me that didn’t want it.” 
Owens said he feels “kind of bittersweet” about the new ordinance because he understands that some people are adamantly opposed to chickens within city limits, but he is glad the uphill battle is over.
“We’re always going to be in an agree-to-disagree situation,” Steveson said, adding that it’s important to respect differing opinions.
“I realized it was a point of contention in the community, but we had a public meeting, the News Letter Journal ran a poll, and it seemed like the majority of the people were in favor of backyard chickens,” Owens said. “Now we can move on to talk about something else.”
A full copy of the ordinance can be viewed at http://newslj.com/content/city-newcastle-chicken-ordinance

 

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