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Chickens roam in the yard of Morgan Rye-Craft, 27, outside her southwest Omaha home. Raising chickens in urban areas has grown increasingly popular over the last couple of decades, and many cities and counties across the country have changed laws and zoning ordinances to accommodate the rising trend. Pottawattamie County may soon cross the road and allow a small flock of chickens in residential neighborhoods.
Raising chickens in urban areas has grown increasingly popular over the last couple of decades, and many cities and counties across the country have changed laws and zoning ordinances to accommodate the rising trend.
Pottawattamie County may soon cross the road and allow a small flock of chickens in residential neighborhoods.
County Planning and Development Director Matt Wyant submitted a preliminary proposal to the Board of Supervisors at yesterday’s meeting to change zoning ordinances in R3 (Urban Residential) and R5 (Planned Residential — multifamily) districts, and create a permitting process, to allow residents to keep chickens on their property.
“Is there really a need for this?” Board Chair Tim Wichman asked.
“There is a definite need,” Wyant said. “We get phone calls every week.”
The pandemic seems to be the main cause of the heightened interest in raising chickens. A hatchery in Connecticut reported that by the first week of March 2022, sales were already at 98% of the previous year’s figures, according to The Happy Chicken Coop, a website dedicated to backyard chicken keepers. By the end of March, sales had increased to more than 500% of last year’s total.
The Pottawattamie County proposal as written would allow residents who live on less than one acre of land to have up to 12 chickens on their property. The chickens — no roosters, only hens — must be kept in an enclosed pasture or coop in the rear yard of the property, and owners must have a plan for dealing with the manure. Chickens will not be allowed to live in the resident’s house.
The initial permit would cost $250, and $150 for annual renewals. The county would also require a site inspection prior to granting a permit, and additional inspections each year when the permit is up for renewal.
As part of the permitting process, residents must get signatures from every neighbor with adjoining property. If even one neighbor doesn’t want to live next door to a chicken flock and refuses to sign, the resident will not be awarded a permit.
The biggest issues facing residents who want to keep chickens on their property are noise and manure, Wyant said.
“People get (chickens), but they don’t understand the noise that it’s gonna generate,” Wyant said. “And then they don’t know what to do with all the manure, and so the manure starts to build up, and then the flies start going, and then it causes the neighbors an issue.”
Wyant believes that the permitting process will force people to think through what would be required of them before they put all of their eggs in one basket.
“What are you gonna do with your manure? How’s the coop gonna be built?” Wyant said. “And then, that way, the coop’s not just built out of old pallets they have laying around there. It matches the area in which it’s at, and it will hopefully alleviate a lot of those issues.”
Some or all of the proposed rules are subject to change. Board Member Brian Shea thinks $250 for the initial permit is too much, for example.
The City of Council Bluffs has its own farm animal permit, which costs $75 per year.
This proposal at the county level comes at the same time the Council Bluffs City Council is looking into changing city ordinances to allow residents to keep a limited number of goats on their property.
The discussion this week was just the first of many that the Board expects to have before it makes a final decision. Would-be urban farmers are cautioned not to flock to the nearest hatchery and count their chickens before they hatch.
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Chickens roam in the yard of Morgan Rye-Craft, 27, outside her southwest Omaha home. Raising chickens in urban areas has grown increasingly popular over the last couple of decades, and many cities and counties across the country have changed laws and zoning ordinances to accommodate the rising trend. Pottawattamie County may soon cross the road and allow a small flock of chickens in residential neighborhoods.
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