From the Heartland

http://www.kwwl.com/story/12128238/iowa-city-group-continues-push-for-urban-chickens?redirected=true


IOWA CITY (KWWL)- Last April the group Iowa City Friends of Urban Chickens formed in effort to persuade city leaders to allow raising hens within city limits
The group gained some momentum, but after changes in the city council, the issue was dropped from the agenda
Less than a year later, it's a cause they're pushing for again.
John Thomas was surprised to learn backyard chickens were unlawful in Iowa City after his move from the west coast.
"It was puzzling why San Francisco would permit urban chickens and Iowa City, in the midst of one of the greatest agricultural regions in the world, would not allow urban chickens," Thomas said.
Supporters of modifying the city's ordinance say egg laying hens can be educational, entertaining, and a reliable source of high-quality protein.
"It's kind of an off-shoot, or an aspect of local food production, people are interested as with vegetable gardens of growing their own food, this is kind of an extension of that," Thomas said.
Those opposed argue chickens are noisy, produce a fowl odor, and attract rodents. Some city leaders worry allowing chickens within Iowa City would create many problems, while only benefiting a select few.
Stacey Driscoll, organizer of Iowa City Friends of Urban Chickens, wants to see the issue back on the council's agenda
She hopes to educate people and address various misconceptions.
"A lot of people have more personal reasons for not wanting chickens, rather than educated-solid evidence that chickens would be hazardous or dangerous," Driscoll said.
Hundreds of people have flocked to support the cause, and many believe backyard chickens in Iowa city will be allowed in the near future
"It is part of this local food production movement which is taking place all over the country so I think it's just a matter of time," Thomas said.
The group says it will attend future city council meetings and continue to educate people, in hopes of getting the issue back on the city council agenda.

I’m not your typical chicken farmer. Your typical chicken farmer lives north or of Ogden or South of Provo. They have dirty overalls and a stalk of wheat hanging from their mouth. Chicken farmers spend their days in ankle deep chicken poop and the only book they crack is the Farmer’s Almanac. When I first thought of getting chickens my wife said I was crazy, my neighbors said it was funny and my friends said it was, umm, long pause, “cool?”

I first came across the idea from a couple, not so typical, chicken farmers Lillian and Shane. One farmer a Cardiologist, the other an Anesthesiologist at the University Hospital, they were not exactly your poop shoveling, overall wearing country bumpkins. Living in the Avenues of Salt Lake City, these two doctors convinced me how fun raising chickens could be.

I thought I couldn’t be normal and my wife assured me I wasn’t. Everyone around me seemed to be enamored by dogs and cats as pets. It was as if that was the only choices out there. As someone who believes pets should make my life enjoyable not the other way around, I’ve never understood cats and unless a dog could jump game birds I didn’t see much point to owning a dog. I loved the functionality of a chicken. They eat your bugs, they provide great fertilizer, you don’t have to take them for walks, and they take care of themselves while you are on vacation. You don’t have to pick up half pound stink bombs or fight the never-ending dead spots on the lawn with chickens, and of course there were the eggs. It just made sense…so I did it.

When I moved to Bountiful, this not so country loving farmer, chuckled inside to see the jaws drop of the next-door neighbors when they saw my unconventional choice of pets move down the driveway on a trailer. Alright, maybe being out of the norm wasn’t something I was too worried about and maybe it even brought me a little enjoyment but over the next 2 years my neighbor’s jaws closed as they realized how benign the chickens were and my mouth began to drop as I realized how in the norm I actually was. It started when my neighbor to the south found out I raised chickens. The middle aged, middle class, urbanites barely blinked before they informed me the previous owners also had chickens. Over the next two years I proudly boasted my odd choice of pets and oddly enough I found I wasn’t alone. Every few weeks I learned of a new neighbor or friend or coworker who had chickens. From Company Owners, to computer geeks to Engineers to several more Doctors and Nurses, it seemed chicken farmers knew no economic, social or geographical boundaries.

In the early days along the Wasatch front it would have been a chore to find a home without a few chickens running around but somewhere along the annals of time in many people’s minds the chicken has been relegated to living in stinky warehouses in two foot square cages destined for the dinner plate. Although chickens don’t run as free as they used to, ask a citizen today if they have chickens and chances are if they don’t, they will at least know someone who does.

Enter stage left, the sucker punch. I knew skunks and raccoons lived in the area, I’d seen them just days after I moved into the home. They never bothered my chickens and I never bothered them until the day I noticed holes in the dirt around the coop where a predator had attempted to dig its way in. I built a trap and before long I had the culprit behind bars. Animal control was called and shortly after animal control left they called Bountiful City.

I had read the Bountiful City Code that explicitly stated fowl were allowed in residential areas. Apparently that was not so, a table in another part of the city code excluded nearly all but the narrowest portion of residential areas from having chickens. My home was not in that narrow zone. The City ordered my chickens to be removed.

At first I was angry. I had lived for 2 years with these chickens in Bountiful. My neighbors loved them or were indifferent about them since they blended right in with the other legal chickens living only one hundred feet away. Once I had time to gather my thoughts and get my emotions in check my anger turned to rage. They’re chickens! On average they weigh five pounds, they barely make a peep and most important, who the heck do these city bureaucrats think they are micromanaging property owners in America like this. It’s un-American! What kind of a land do we live in when a hundred fifty pound dog is legal in any corner of the city yet owning a chicken can land you with a criminal record?

As I found out quickly, hundreds and hundreds of citizens along the Wasatch front owned and raised chickens in their back yards. One by one, city after city ordinances have been revised over the past two years accommodating the desires of citizens to become more self-reliant and have more control over what they eat. Most Davis County cities that passed new ordinances saw no harm and very little complaint from their ordinance changes. Of half the cities surveyed in Davis County that allowed chickens in residential areas, only one reported a single legitimate complaint over the last year. As I have made several calls to Bountiful City the unofficial response is, “Most Bountiful citizens don’t want chickens living next to them.” A claim I dispute. I have to wonder at what point dictating what people do outside of your property boundaries became woven into the fabric of our rights as citizens. It stands to reason that some restrictions be put in place, like no roosters, but to paint the broad stroke barring all chickens from all but the largest of properties in Bountiful is all too excessive.

So that is where myself and possibly a hundred more Bountiful citizens sit today, on a piece of the American pie that has been raped by the arm of Bountiful’s government. From average ordinary urban chicken farmer to outlaw. From practical dad to possible convict. From freedom loving American to an American fighting for the freedom to live prudently on my own property. It’s a fight that started over two hundred twenty-five years ago and it’s a fight that citizens will have with powerful city administrators for another two hundred twenty-five years. I’m hopeful that Bountiful citizens and Americans will understand this fight isn’t just chicken scratch; it’s a fight that has far reaching implications on many different levels. I am hopeful that all the Engineers, Company Owners, Doctors and Computer Geeks band together in restoring the simple right to bare chickens in Bountiful.

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How to deal with the Law
So you've gotten a letter that tells you you're in violation of the law, what do you do?
First of all you need to realize that the law is the law. You can be fined if you do not comply. I would advise you to comply as ordered. The letter will typically state that you have until X day to remove the chickens at which time your property will be inspected to assure you have complied with the order. According to the Code Enforecement Officer for Bountiful City, Davis County Animal Control is contracted to provide that inspection. Remember, the law is the law. Remember, the law is the law. Remember, the law is the law and that is why you have to get rid of your chickens but remember...When a government offical or representative comes to your property to "inspect" the legal term for that is "search." When a government offical comes to your home or property and takes something of yours, the legal term for that is "seizure." Very strict search and seizure laws have existed since the day's of our founders. You do not have to allow anyone access to your property or home without a warrent. It is within your legal right to insist law enforcement officals leave your property unless they have a warrent.

WHERE HAVE OUR LIBERTIES GONE

Would you be surprised to find our that carrying a box of tissues between 11:00 and 6:00 is illegal in Bountiful? Title 8 Chapter 7 Section 102 (8-7-102) of the Bountiful City Code states:

The Following Acts are unlawful between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 am:
(a) Loading Operations. Loading, unloading, opening or otherwise handling boxes, crates, containers, garbage containers or other objects;

Ok, maybe carrying a box of tissues may not get most people fined by the City of Bountiful but don't even think about taking the garbage out to the curb before you leave for work at quarter to six.

So why is the City Council Chickens?

The above law is the perfect example. Easily offended citizens, finding no solace from right thinking individuals often run to the city and bemoan the hardships they endure when their neighbors do this at the wrong time or that in the wrong place. The City Council, only all to eager to create a beautiful city where all can live in harmony and happiness, ban this or that until it becomes impossible to know whether blowing your nose and other, seemingly unoffensive activities, just might give your neighbor reason to 'turn you in'. It is a chicken that throws away the liberties of it's citizens to preserve 'harmony' within a community and it is a chicken who insists government ensures his harmony among neighbors.

Of course! there is a place for restrictions and laws and codes within a community. Without law there is no order. Of course! harmony within a city is desirable, who would hope for anything else? Since the Days of our founders Americans have fought for liberty yet set in place mechanisms to preserve order. Its a balance that is delicate. It's a balance that can't be left in the hands of individuals that substitute God given rights for a false sense of wellbeing.

Whats the point!

So what liberty has been taken away that's gotten me all bent out of shape? Well there are many but this blog is dedicated to one in particular. The right to keep and bare chickens. That's right, CHICKENS!

You've got to be kidding, Who cares?

I wish I weren't kidding. Currently only a handful of Bountiful City residents have the right to keep chickens but, believe it or not, there are A LOT of Bountiful City residents that defy city ordinances and harbor chickens illegally on their property. This is a big enough issue that the cities of Centerville, Woods Cross and North Salt Lake have taken action. Their action? to repeal ordinances that prohibited their citizens from keeping chickens in residential areas. All of Bountifuls surrounding cities have instituted common sense restrictions that maintain the beautiful balance between the rights of individuals and the rights of their neighbors.

"But I don't want those noisy, smelly things living next to me."

If you are like a couple of the clerks at the Bountiful City offices who try to discourage discussion with city officials about chickens because they don't want them living next to them, then your reasons are probably pretty typical. If you say, "They smell" and "they are noisy" then you might as well just admit that you've never lived next to or know much about 'Urban Chickens'. Upcoming articles will contain everything from City Council members reasoning for voting against/for chickens in Bountiful, to testimonials from the neighbors of chicken raisers, to proposed ordinances that will keep chicken lovers and chicken haters happily living right next door to one another.

I hope you keep reading and don't forget to "like" us on Facebook at Bountiful Citizens For Chickens.

Sincerely
Josh Holdstock