Council Eyes Reversal of Mayor’s Hens in Lakewood Exemption

A in their backyards in a pilot program has ruffled the feathers of some members of city council.

An add-on to the upcoming Monday night’s city council meeting includes a move that would strip the mayor of his ability as public safety director to allow an exemption on an ordinance that bans chickens in the city.

As members of the group Hens in Lakewood were celebrating the mayor’s commitment to allow the exemption, several members were speaking out against the proposal.

Mayor Michael Summers did not returns calls seeking comment.

But, at-large councilman Brian Powers, who sponsored the legislation that would change the wording in the ordinance, said the issue should be in the hands of city council, not the mayor.

"I am very much an advocate that each branch of government has a role," he said. "This is a legislative matter and not an administrative matter.

"These things should be handled appropriately, rather than backdoor them.”

Powers, who admits he hasn't studied the issue at hand, said he expects council to discuss the issue further.

"If somebody wants to make a proposal and you can get four members of council on your side, that’s the way it’s supposed to work," he said. "I don’t think this is a dead issue.”

Ward 4 councilwoman Mary Louise Madigan said she talked with the mayor earlier this week and told him she disagreed with him on the proposal.

“Then, I read about it in the Patch on Thursday,” she said, noting to allow an exemption for a one-year pilot program. “So did a couple other people and they were a little upset.”

“I think legislation by pilot program is a bad idea,” she said. “If it’s something that important, it should go through the legislative body. It did three years and it wasn’t supported."

Madigan said if the legislation came before council, she would vote against it.

“We’re in the midst of the worst housing crisis we’ve ever had,” she said. “I don’t know that our neighborhoods are strong enough — I don’t know how easy it would be to sell a house with chickens next to it. No one’s proven that me.”

But she wasn't done.

“Allowing chickens is not a litmus test for a progressive, ecologically sensitive community. It’s one part of an idea.”

Ward 3 councilman Shawn Juris said he’ll wait to talk to his colleagues on council before he makes a decision on the issue. Two of the three proposed participants in the pilot program live in the ward he represents.

“I don’t have enough information yet,” he said. “I’d be curious to hear both sides to hear what’s the reason to take action at this point.”

Juris said he didn’t talk to Summers about the details of the pilot program.

“But I feel like some of those things were taken into consideration,” he said. “I assume the mayor wouldn’t ignore anything — from attracting rodents to predators to what these eggs would be used for.”

Law director Kevin Butler said the add-on item on Monday’s city council agenda, removes the word “other” where it addresses reasons why the mayor could allow an exemption. The words “educational, scientific or commercial purposes” would remain in the ordinance.

Butler said the mayor hasn’t officially signed the exemption.

“The group has not gotten its exemption for these three households,” he said, noting that even if Summers did sign the exemption, the pilot program wouldn’t be grandfathered in.

“The mayor has got an option to grant the exception and he may decide not to in light of the fact that a ban is looming if this ordinance is passed.”