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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 has crossed the road and will allow a small peep of chickens in residential neighborhoods.

A new kind of peep show is coming to Pottawattamie County as the board of supervisors voted this week to allow residents in certain residential neighborhoods to keep chickens on their property.

Residents who own less than one acre of land and/or who live in a R3-Urban Residential zoning district will soon be able to apply for a permit that will allow them to have up to 12 chickens — collectively known as a “peep” — cooped up on their property.

Planning and Development director Matt Wyant said that the county should expect about 50 permit requests by next spring.

“We get calls each week from people wanting to put a chicken coop up in their backyard,” Wyant said.

Before you’re allowed to bring your chickens home to roost, applicants will be required to complete a free online class about raising chickens before they are issued a permit. A certificate of completion will have to be filed with the county’s animal control department.

The cost of the permit will be set at the Sept. 20 board meeting.

When the board first discussed the matter in July, the cost was initially set at $250 for the first year, with a $125 annual renewal fee. Some of the supervisors thought the cost was too high, and the cost was lowered in the amended ordinance presented this week to $125 for the first year, and $75 to renew.

Supervisors Brian Shea and Justin Schultz both balked at the cost, pointing to the City of Council Bluffs, which issues a similar permit for $75, with a $75 annual renewal.

“If the city is doing 75 bucks, why can’t we?” Schultz said, asking for a breakdown of what exactly the $125 is paying for.

Wyant pointed out that county inspectors will potentially have to travel much further to inspect the locations where residents want to erect their chicken coops.

“We will have to travel way out, potentially, around the City of Walnut, where on the outskirts of Walnut there may be some small parcels that are eligible for this permit,” Wyant said. “And it’s an hour drive time for staff to get out there and check these things out.”

After the fee is determined, residents will be able to start applying for permits on Oct. 1 through the county’s Animal Control department.

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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 has crossed the road and will allow a small peep of chickens in residential neighborhoods.

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