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C.E Council will write ordinance to allow urban chickens
By JON ERICSON
Courier Staff Writer
CEDAR FALLS - Rowena Tans
life was going along quite nor-
mally with her nice home in the
College Hill area, a loving hus-
band, a bright son and her coop
full of chickens.
Then one day a city council-
man, who happened to be a
chicken keeper himself, came
along to tell her she was a law~
breaker.
It turns out the councilman
Kamyar Enshayan, had discov~
ered a Cedar Falls city ordinance
that prohibits keeping chickens
within the city borders.
Enshayan acknowledged the
need, as a city official to follow
the city's laws, so he shipped his
chlckens out of the city limits to a
place where his family still could
visit them.
He also informed Tan of the
law. She had no desire to send her
small flock off to some farm and
decided to fight City Hall
Tan asked the city to change the
ordinance to allow her family to
keep their feathered pets. Nearly
two weeks ago, a City Council
committee considered the
request After much discussion
about whether urban chickens
are a good thing, they decided to
star! work on a new ordinance
that would allow it
Tans backyard chickens came
out of a family visit to Decorah.
They came across a T-shirt for
sale with a snappy slogan regard-
ing chicks, and Tan asked her
third-grade son, Nicholas Gasser,
if he wanted one. He declined,
instead wanting to get actual
chicks as pets.
So the Gasser-Tan clan
acquired some chickens and
spent numerous hours convert-
ing a lO-by-lO-foot dog kennel
into a deluxe home for fowl They
put wood over the top to keep out
arrbome predators or even just
the curious pigeon, while laying
chicken wire beneath to keep any
tunnelers with evil intentions
away from their pets. Inside the
new coop they set up a modified
Step 2 playhouse to serve as a
roost for the birds.
They have a variety of mostly
exotic chicken breeds including a
siUde, which grows no feathers,
and a strange-looking bare-
necked variety.
Nicholas' favorite is a friendly
Photos by MATTHEW PUTNEY I Courier Staff PhotOgrapher
Rowena Tan shows 011 a silkie chicken in ils backyard pen in her Cedar Falls yard.
An old
English
game
hen
enlers
the
chicken
coop.
little old English game hen with
the unfortunate name of Ginger;
if you were to call her Ginger
Chicken you would be describing
a tasty Chinese meal
But make no mistake, Tan's
chickens arenl raised for food
They only eat the eggs.
'The rule is donlname some-
thing you're going to eat." Tan said
with a laugh
The neighbors donl mind her
chickens; they frequently stop
over to take a peek at them The
chickens are usually quiet except
for a mild ruckus when one of
them lays an egg.
'They are not really any dirtier
than a dog in a kennel," Tan said
"To me, irs no more of a nuisance
than someone's cat or dog:'
Tan had researched the legality
of keeping chickens prior to
acquiring them, but found noth-
ing in city code regarding ani-
mals. City staff did find a zoning
requirement that only allows
chickens in agricultutal zones.
Council member Susan
deBuhr expressed concerns
about health problems, particu-
larly the threat of avian flu. But
Enshayan noted that in the case
of avian flu, a federal mandate
would require all such urban
chickens be eliminated.
Councilman Tom Hagarty said
that he has more of a personal
problem with several other exotic
pets that are currently allowed
under city ordinance. He sup-
ported allowing chickens.
"If they're somebody's pets, I
have a real problem with pre-
venting someone from learning
to take care of them," Hagarty
said
The city will be modeling a
chicken ordinance after many
others that exist around the
nation. They have ideas for
requiring certain setbacks from
neighboring homes, prohibiting
the keeping of roosters and
allowing only four chickens to be
kept on a property.
Tan said allowing urban chick-
ens is not a nuisance, but a mark
of a progressive city. She provid-
ed the city with many examples
of cities that allow chickens, from
those 'as close as Des Moines and
Windsor Heights, to larger cities
such as Chicago and Portland,
Ore.
In fact Tan said in the Portland
and Seattle areas, real estate
advertisements often list the local
chicken ordinance as a selling
point And Tan has found numer-
ous national communities, such
as backyardchickens.com, that
cater to urban chicken keepers.
The City Council will take
action at a futute date on the
chicken ordinance.
Contact Jon Ericson at (319) 291-1402
or 10nalhan.erlcson@Wc!courler.com.