Council OKS chicken ordinance
Concern over neighbors, code enforcement and sale of eggs dominate discussion
A brand new Sterling City Council adopted the chicken ordinance Tuesday, but not before considerable discussion about code enforcement, neighbors’ rights and sale of excess eggs.
Prior to business being conducted, three council members and the mayor relinquished their seats to their replacements. County Judge Ray Ann Brammer swore in Matthew Foos as mayor, Megan Wolf to represent Ward 1, Kellan Raffaeli in Ward 2 and
Dean Haynes in Ward 3.
Then it was time to talk about chickens.
Sterling voters approved a ballot question in November allowing residents to keep up to six chickens per household. City staff readied an ordinance that was tentatively approved on first reading two weeks ago; second reading and public hearing were held Tuesday evening. Members of the public made statements about the possible impact of chickenkeeping on neighbors, an argument that was taken up by council members.
Councilman Albert Delgado said there should be a provision that anyone wanting to keep chickens would need their neighbors’ permission. Although he didn’t cite any specific nuisance, he talked about a general degradation of quality of life and even property values for neighboring properties. Councilman Dean Haynes brought up the idea of possible allergies, smell and shoddy housing.
“Are we going to let somebody just slap some two-by-fours together and put up some chicken wire and say it’s a coop?” he asked. “I mean, there’s provisions in the ordinance for that, but who’s going to enforce it?”
Councilman Luke Janes disagreed, saying there is no need to get permission from one’s neighbors to conduct permitted activities
on one’s own property. City Attorney Matthew Richardson affirmed Janes’ position, saying there’s no provision anywhere in the municipal code for securing neighbors’ permission to conduct permitted activities.
Questions about the annual fee of $50 and whether chicken owners should be allowed to sell excess eggs also were discussed. The ordinance, as written, forbids the selling or bartering of eggs from chickens kept in the city, although they can be given away.
Ultimately, Richardson said, there was no wiggle room to amend the ordinance after second hearing; it had to come for a vote, up or down, but could be amended later. The council voted unanimously for approval.
In other business, the council:
• Renewed a liquor store license for Major Liquors and approved special event liquor permit for Sterling Elks Lodge;
• Approved a memorandum of understanding with the State of Colorado for use of the city’s fire training facility;
• And approved an amendment updating the city employees’ flexible benefits plan.