Backyard Hens Back on the Table?

The Love Lakewood website is saying a citizens group wants to see the backyard hen ordinance back on the table and has drafted proposed legislation to move the effort forward.

“Hoping to seize upon the departure of at least two of its nemeses from the City Council, a citizens group expects to work with Tom Bullock (Ward 2) and put forth early next year a proposed ordinance that would legalize the ownership of egg-laying chickens within the city,” Love Lakewood said in a recent post on the site.

Currently, raising hens in Lakewood is illegal.

The group cited Hens in Lakewood spokesperson April Stoltz as saying the group is “looking at everything politically” and said the November election could result in enough changes to support the legislation drafted by Hens in Lakewood.

Maureen McHugh, the Legislative Liaison to city council, said no legislation has been formally proposed by a council member yet.

Love Lakewood said the legislation proposed by Hens in Lakewood could be proposed in early 2014.

In 2011, Mayor Michael Summers OK’d a pilot project that would have allowed four Lakewood families to raise hens in their backyards.

Lakewood City Council later voted to close the “loophole” in the city’s ordinances that allows the mayor to make an exemption on the issue. 

That hasn’t deterred the grass-roots organization Hens in Lakewood who held a public forum in May.

“More and more Lakewood residents are in favor of this,” Councilman Tom Bullock told Patch in May. “They want healthy, local food. They want their kids to learn about nature. They want high-quality food and they want to be hands-on. There are a lot of people here who are do-it-yourselfer, fixer-uppers.” 

The proposed Hens in Lakewood ordinance summary states:

• Slaughtering. No chickens shall be slaughtered, except if it is done within a licensed butchering establishment
• Hens are for personal use only
• Hens may be kept in areas zoned R-1, R-2 and Industrial only
• No more than 8 hens per dwelling
• Coops or cages housing hens shall be kept at least 25 feet from the door or window of any dwelling or occupied structure other than the owner’s dwelling. Coops and cages shall not be located within five feet of a side yard lot line, nor within 18 inches of a rear yard lot line.
• Coops and cages shall not be located in the front yard.
• Roosters are not permitted
• A permit is required

 Read full proposed permit summary here.