02-22-2017 Workshop Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP FEBRUARY 22, 2017 groups cannot accept chickens any longer because they are full, but they are also not seeing as many stray or abandoned chickens anymore, and she believes that more people are realizing what is involved before getting them. Keis stated that his concern is allowing chickens could open the door to people wanting other types of farm animals. Torkelson stated there are big differences between types of animals, and the Council simply decides which animals are allowed and which are not. Ms. Schott stated they put up posters at Caribou, Culvers, and Donut Hut in Little Canada asking people to participate in a survey on Survey Monkey. They also used Facebook and NextDoor to ask opinions on allowing chickens. Keis asked if most people with chickens have fenced yards. Ms. Schott stated most people do have a fenced yard, but that could be a requirement. She showed information from nearby cities code enforcement staff and their responses to chickens in their city. She reported that all code enforcement staff stated that they do not have problems with chickens and very few complaints, and most of those are taken care of easily. Montour stated that Little Canada only has a part-time code enforcement person. McGraw stated that there is always someone out there who will challenge the rules and take up staff resources and the City gets dragged into problems. He stated that the City pays $19,000 a year to deal with the animal complaints that already exist. McGraw asked how the ordinance should be written that is palatable to both the residents and the Council. Torkelson stated that he struggled with this too, and there are already standards for the exterior of buildings in the City Code. He explained that the City really only needs to give the basics for coop standards and if there are welfare issues, then deal with that as a complaint. Fischer stated that he wants this to be self-sufficient, but doesn't want to have to charge an exorbitant fee to cover city costs. He noted that if he is going to support an ordinance, he wants it to be pro -active. McGraw stated that whatever ordinance the City writes, at some point it will need to be enforced. John Sculley, 3000 Labore Road, explained that his family raised chickens and they are a pain and not cute. He stated that he does not like chickens, but people should still have the right to do what they want on their property. He noted that he does not care what other people do on their property, or if anyone has chickens. Fischer wants to give the best quality of life for the most amount of people, but he does not know what that is. Keis stated he is on the fence, probably leaning towards not allowing chickens, but would look at more information. Torkelson is in support of allowing chickens. Montour stated at this time he is not interested in allowing chickens. McGraw is not in support of allowing chickens. 2