Rockford City Council rejects proposal to allow backyard hens

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — City Council members decided Monday that allowing fowl in local neighborhoods would be a foul move.

The council voted 9-5 to reject a proposal that would have allowed residents to raise up to four hens on their property. Aldermen Bill Rose, Mark Bonne, Jonathan Logemann, Tuffy Quinonez and Gabrielle Torina had voted in favor of the measure after 17 minutes of discussion.

The council has been considering the proposal for weeks. It was brought forward in April by Rose, who initially started a petition to garner conversation on the issue. In mid-December, Rose proposed allowing the hens on a trial basis with a limit of 30 permits given out to residents in the city.

“The one-year pilot is incredibly prudent,” Martin Quirk, a Rock Valley College history professor who has spoken in favor of backyard hens to the council three times, told council members Monday. “It gives us a chance to see what are the issues, to correct them and it doesn’t commit the city to a long-term project.”

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Under the pilot program, hens would have been allowed for one year before the City Council revisited the issue and decided whether to continue to allow for chickens to be raised here. City staff would also have created a report on permits issued and the number of violations.

Alderman Mark Bonne joked that it was a “no harm, no fowl” situation as a pilot program. He said it deserves a “one year chance to hatch.”

“We’re not committed to it. It isn’t a forever thing,” Bonne said. “As a pilot it allows us to proactively assess it and come back to it.”

Proponents say backyard chickens provide a sustainable source of eggs, they control pests by feeding on insects and they provide a source of quality fertilizer.

Opponents say the chickens can lower property values by being a nuisance and eyesore for neighbors. They also say that chickens can attract predators such as coyotes to residential areas.

Alderwoman Karen Hoffman, who objected to the measure, said Rockford’s ordinance needed stronger requirements. She offered Naperville as an example. That suburban city requires coops to be 30 feet from buildings or property lines and at least 200 feet from any occupied buildings, aside from that of the owner. She also wanted to see tougher requirements as to the quality standards and construction materials for coops.

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Alderman Tim Durkee echoed her suggestions while voicing his objection to the proposal. He said residents, especially those who live in areas where neighboring homes are in close proximity, don’t expect to have to live next door to chicken coops.

“I’d probably would be favorable to voting for an ordinance that allows a certain square footage or acreage of a lot, but this particular ordinance I can’t support,” he said.

The proposed rules here would have required the hens to be kept in an enclosed coop and run that could not be more than 80-square-feet large and must be at least 6 feet from any property line. It also must be 20-feet from any structure.

The proposal also required appropriate maintenance and sanitation and prohibited the slaughter of any animals on site. Roosters would have been banned.

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas.