Meeting Highlights: Council Debates Chickens, Talks Hadley Township

The Richmond Heights City Council met Monday night for a special session about backyard chickens and a regular meeting about issues such as the redevelopment of Hadley Township.

The special session began shortly after 6:30 p.m. , and the regular meeting began at about 7:30 p.m.

A complete agenda may be downloaded from the Richmond Heights city website. The following is a look at highlights from the meetings as they happened:

8:07 P.M.: The council has adjourned to a closed session.

8:03 P.M.: A brief closed session is planned Monday night, Heinz said. The council has heard the first reading on a bill regarding the .

8:01 P.M.: Second readings on the bills are planned at the council's Sept. 6 meeting.

8 P.M.: The public hearing has closed, and the council is holding a series of first readings regarding the Hadley Township redevelopment area.

7:58 P.M.: Thomson said the city could consider upgrading itself and Big Bend by, among other things, beautifying the steps of City Hall with flowers and greenery; removing surrounding paper signs directing people into the building and putting up something more permanent; and hiring somone such as an assistant city manager whose job description, in part, would involve economic development.

7:54 P.M.: Mitten said she thinks it's funny that the city might allow residences to be within 10 feet of businesses but keep chicken coops 50 feet from neighboring residences.

7:54 P.M.: The city is proposing several changes to zoning code with a focus on Big Bend Boulevard, Reary said. The laws would place some restrictions on exterior lights; permit residential apartments on the second floor of some businesses; and reduce the size of some transitional yards from 35 feet to 10 feet.

7:50 P.M.: An ordinance regarding the vacation will be developed, Reary said.

7:48 P.M.: Dave Reary, the city's building and zoning commissioner, is presenting information about the proposed vacation of a section of Woodland Drive. At issue is a 50-foot portion of the drive. Laurence and Maureen Kane own the property.

Thomson said parking should not be a concern at the location. "It does not necessarily interfere with that," he said.

7:41 P.M.: A public hearing regarding has opened. Heinz is presenting background information to the council. Properties east of Hampton Creek would be among those removed from the development area.

7:37 P.M.: Greenwald commended the Little Flower eighth grade boy's baseball team for winning a recent championship game against the St. Margaret of Scotland team.

7:36 P.M.: The city is looking forward to the upcoming , Beck said.

7:35 P.M.: Beck said the , and he said spots are still available. He also is reminding the public about the .

7:34 P.M.: Lore apologized for not being present at 6:30. He said he just got back in from vacation and didn't realize the meeting started an hour early.

"It was late notification on that ... you owe no apology," Beck said.

7:29 P.M.: "I think our workshop was fairly useful," Beck said. He is calling for the council to enter its regular meeting. He said this will be something on the council's plate for the development of an ordinance.

He said he will listen to suggestions over the next couple of weeks. He said he believes there isn't enough support for a ballot issue. It will then be time to develop an ordinance "that the council feels is fair to the chicken owners and the neighbors."

He said another work session on the issue likely will be held Sept. 19.

7:25 P.M.: Mitten said she has a relative in Omaha, NE, who has chickens and has friends in Maplewood who didn't even know they lived next to chickens.

Jones displayed an article that talks about neighbors having to take people to court because of the noise of chickens.

7:23 P.M.: "Because this particular want is a bit off the beaten path for some of us I think that we're having some trouble wrapping our heads around it," Mitten said. She later added: "A nuisance is a nuisance is a nuisance."

Beck said "But we're going to create this one, is what we're talking about."

Lore has arrived at the table.

7:22 P.M.: Beck said he hasn't had a problem with chickens but that some people he's spoken with who grew up on farms have said the birds are intrusive. "They are not pets, or if they are, then they need to be limited in the same way that the pets are," Beck said.

He was responding to Casey, who said the if the city has the proper nuisance ordinances in place, problems will be addressed.

7:19 P.M.: Heinz said a city rule requiring residents to pick up animal waste within a 24-hour period is the result of an effort by the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District about 10 years ago. In exchange for using its sewer system, Heinz said, cities agreed to pick up waste so that it wouldn't travel into the sewer system by way of rain water.

"That's got to be the most disobeyed law in the history of mankind," Heinz said.

7:15 P.M.: Greenwald said she is worried about coop size as well as the distance between a coop and an adjoining residence. She said it would be unfair to prevent the owner of a small lot from owning chickens when no neighbors are opposed to the birds.

"You've got to legislate for everybody," Heinz said.

7:13 P.M.: Other issues would include whether someone who buys a house from a chicken owner would have to reapply for a permit, Heinz said.

7:12 P.M.: City Attorney Kenneth Heinz said he thought it might be helpful to review possible draft legislation on chicken ownership that city staff developed. "I never recall anyone having an issue with chickens," Heinz said. He said that 15 years ago, a dangerous dog ordinance drew the volume of people that the chickens issue has this year.

Among the items the city developed for council members to discuss regarding a possible ordinance, Heinz said:

• Up to five chickens ("For some reason, we thought five was a good number.")

• Must have a permit

• Confined to a coop, pen or wire netting

• Coop should stay sanitary

• Roosters removed

• No slaughtering except when blocked from view

• Eggs would not be sold (a debatable issue, Heinz said)

• Coop must be 50 feet from an adjacent residential dwelling or business place

• Rear yards only

• No fighting or aggressive birds

• Six-foot privacy fence

7:06 P.M.: Notter said people have come to him for the past two years with complaints about chickens. But he said the issue hasn't come up before the council in the past because people want to keep good relationships with their neighbors.

7:04 P.M.: Mitten said some have expressed a "sky is falling" mentality about chicken ownership unlike with ownership of dogs. Beck said: "That's rather dramatic, don't you think?"

Beck said that he doesn't think most people on the council are in favor of a ballot but that he wanted to put the issue up for discussion.

7:03 P.M.: Mitten: "This has become a debate about taste, frankly." She said if the council approves privacy fences for chickens, it should by extension do the same for people who own dogs.

6:57 P.M.: Mitten said the council is wasting its time to debate that city law prohibits chicken ownership. "At a minimum, I would say there is a conflict in the ordinance as to what it meant," Mitten said.

6:56 P.M.: Mitten said the city has a referendum process that can be used in the event that residents want to put an issue to a vote.

6:55 P.M.: Greenwald said the city should develop something it can try for a year and go from there. She said she's concerned about people who express concern about what might happen in terms of smell and rats. She said prospective chicken owners might be required to take a class certifying them in how to raise the birds.

Beck said he could support that assuming neighbors have a voice in the process.

6:51 P.M.: Casey: "Chickens are within everyone's purview." He said the council can vote in a way that represents the people of Richmond Heights. He said council members were voted into office to make such decisions.

Mitten said she agrees with him.

6:50 P.M.: The council members are debating whether allowing chickens would lead to requests for possession of goats and other animals. Mitten said: "A slippery slope argument is never a good one." Jones said he agrees.

District 4 Councilwoman Connie Williams said she doesn't know why Richmond Heights would have a problem with chicken ownership when surrounding cities don't. Mitten said she agrees.

Beck and some council members said not all cities nearby permit the practice.

6:45 P.M.: Mitten said city law states that chicken ownership without a permit is a nuisance. There is no ordinance specifically about the practice.

Jones said city law approved in the early 1960s and again in the early 1980s prohibits the practice.

District 2 Councilman Jim Thomson said he opposes putting the issue to a citywide vote. He said he opposes chicken ownership.

6:44 P.M.: District 3 Councilwoman Gina Mitten: Chicken ownership has been "going on for a long time and now we've had one complaint. In the seven years that I've been on the council … one complaint has now created this, pardon my pun, flurry of activity."

District 2 Councilman Mike Jones just tossed a sheet of paper across the table toward Mitten with what he said information about city law against ownership of chickens in the city. District 4 Councilwoman Camille Greenwald said he didn't need to throw the paper.

6:39 P.M.: Beck said an email he received from District 3 Councilman Ed Notter in favor of a ballot issue is convincing to him. "It affects the whole city," Beck said.

District 1 Councilman Matt Casey said the city should consider its 100 years of precedents that allow chickens. "To go against the precedent of our prior councils would be a pretty drastic move."

6:38 P.M.: Mayor James Beck said the council has three options: Put together an ordinance on its own regarding possession of backyard chickens, develop language for a ballot issue on whether chickens will be allowed or rule that the city doesn't want to allow chicken ownership.

6:35 P.M.: A group of tables has been set up at the center of the council chambers for the discussion. All council members but District 1 Councilman Paul Lore are present. The meeting is underway.

6:27 P.M.: The meeting is expected to begin in a few minutes. There are a handful of audience members.