Council compromise allows apartment dwellers to own chickens

Kristin Czubkowski  —  9/17/2008 10:03 am

The Madison City Council passed an ordinance Tuesday allowing apartment dwellers to own chickens, but not before creating a compromise to avoid any ruffled feathers.

The compromise limited the building size to four units and the number of chickens on a single lot to four -- rather than the ordinance's original eight -- and improved the notification system for single-family as well as multi-family homes.

"I think this is a great compromise between those who believe in local food and want to have the fresh eggs and possibly even have the animal for food if they take it to an appropriate place for being slaughtered, and at the same time, it protects those people who feel we're turning Madison into farmland," said Ald. Michael Schumacher, who worked with the ordinance's sponsor Ald. Marsha Rummel on the compromise.

The new ordinance, which modifies Madison's 2004 policy on keeping chickens in single-family homes, would now require all potential owners to notify any neighbors within 200 feet about keeping chickens as well as get landlord approval. If more than half of the person's neighbors filed a complaint within two weeks to the city, the person would not be allowed to keep the animals.

At Tuesday's meeting, several council members expressed concerns about the health risks of chickens. Dr. Thomas Schlenker, director of the Department of Public Health for Madison and Dane County, told members that while chickens do carry some diseases that can be transmitted to humans, most commonly salmonella, they do not pose a significantly higher risk than other common pets, such as dogs and cats.

"In terms of other diseases, there are plenty of diseases that all species of animals carry," Schlenker said. "I think that is a risk that anybody that has a pet in their home runs, but we don't see any inordinate risk with keeping chickens as pets or for their eggs."

Even without the risk of disease, some council members questioned the safety and cleanliness of keeping chickens fenced in a back yard. Ald. Judy Compton, who opposed the original 2004 ordinance, cited recent sightings of coyotes in Madison as one potential issue with keeping chickens, which could be seen as bait.

"If my neighbor decided to bring in chickens, you have invited a predator into my yard, and you have jeopardized the health and safety and well-being of my family," she said.

Similarly, she added that issues of safety and cleanliness could also jeopardize the chances for neighbors to open certain small businesses, like day cares.

Others, such as Madison resident Dwight Culberson, questioned the city's ability to enforce the regulations on owning chickens, such as the four-chicken limit and ban against roosters.

"Basically there's no enforcement of what you've got now," he said, criticizing the idea of expanding the ordinance.

Ultimately, though, most council members decided the risks of chickens were negligible. Ald. Robbie Webber labeled the concerns "scare tactics," saying the small number of people who keep chickens would not increase the risk of predators any more than the uninvited rabbits and squirrels in most people's yards.

"I think that dogs probably bite, cats probably scratch and parrots probably make more noise than any chicken that is now or will exist in the city of Madison," she said.

Kristin Czubkowski  —  9/17/2008 10:03 am