Thursday, January 15, 2009

urban chickens to be legal in Burnsville, MN

Nice story appearing in the Minnesota Star Tribune about the city council in Burnsville, MN (pop ~59,000, see on larger map) preparing to legalize chickens in this city just south of Minneapolis/St Paul.

The protagonist of this story is an 11-year-old boy named Stefan Remund. He had been raising chickens illegally before a neighbor reported him and Remund became a bit of a local celebrity pleading his case to the city council.

Thanks to his perseverance, as well as support from others, the council's prepared to pass a resolution in its next meeting to allow residents to own up to four chickens if their backyard coops meet specifications and other conditions are met.

Seems the council has a great deal of common sense on its side, too, in examining why the ordinance forbidding urban chickens was on the books in the first place:
Council Member Dan Kealey said the reason for the city passing the ordinance a few years back had been fear of bird flu. But the nation has learned much about bird flu since then, he said, and he no longer sees backyard chickens as a threat. He noted that while some residents may prefer cats and dogs over chickens, "I think that's more about our culture and our fears."

Here's hoping other municipalities around the country can take the same common-sense approach to the matter.

1 comment:

James said...

That's great news. Chickens have been an awesome addition to our backyard in urban Seattle, where they've been allowed for some time.

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails