Editor's note: This story was originally published in the .
Up to 50 homeowners in Belleville will be allowed to keep chickens in their backyards under an Council on Monday night.
It was a victory for a grassroots organization that formed seven months ago to persuade Belleville officials to follow the lead of Metro East communities such as Edwardsville, Swansea, Collinsville and Shiloh and end the city鈥檚 decades-long ban on chickens.
The new ordinance includes five pages of rules and regulations related to the placement, housing, upkeep and control of 鈥渦rban chickens,鈥� which will be limited to hens only. Roosters, known for their loud crowing early in the morning, are still prohibited.
鈥淭here had to be some give and take, but I think their restrictions are reasonable,鈥� said Andrew Tufto, 40, of Belleville, one of the organization鈥檚 leaders. 鈥淲e鈥檝e always understood that there were going to be restrictions. It鈥檚 not going to be a free-for-all.鈥�
Andrew and his wife, Amber Tufto, are two of three administrators of a Facebook page called Belleville, IL Backyard Chickens. It was created in February and now has 580 members.
The Tuftos live in a home built by Andrew鈥檚 grandparents on an acre of land near St. Augustine of Canterbury Catholic Church. They鈥檙e avid gardeners, and they like the idea of having farm-fresh eggs.
鈥淚鈥檓 all about self-sufficiency and healthy food, and I want the best for my family,鈥� Andrew Tufto said. a little scare with empty shelves, no toilet paper and prices going through the roof.鈥�
Referendum overruled
This summer, three aldermen proposed the idea of allowing Belleville residents to vote on the chicken issue in a non-binding referendum, but they were overruled during the committee process.
On Sept. 12, the Ordinance and Legal Review Committee voted to send the proposed chicken ordinance to the full City Council, which approved it Monday night. Ward 4 Alderman Kent Randle voted 鈥渘o鈥� both times.
One of his concerns was that the ordinance requires chicken coops to be inspected each year when permits are renewed, but it raises little revenue and provides no additional funding for the city鈥檚 health, housing and building department to do inspections.
鈥淭hat leaves me thinking that the ordinance will be enforced with the same tenacity that we approach the now-repealed vacant housing ordinance,鈥� Randle said.
He also asked what will happen to chickens too old to lay eggs, given that the ordinance prohibits slaughtering them.
Randle said several residents had contacted him to express their opposition to the chicken ordinance, with some worried that enclosures and hen houses could create eyesores in their neighborhoods and increase the number of raccoons and other nuisance animals that like eggs.
Ward 4 Alderman Raffi Ovian and Ward 5 Alderman Ed Dintelman also opposed the ordinance change.
Ovian called it a 鈥渂ig mistake.鈥� He told the City Council that he cleaned chicken coops as a teenager and took two showers a day but still couldn鈥檛 get the smell of the 鈥渘asty animals鈥� off his body.
鈥淭his is the city,鈥� Ovian said. 鈥淭his is not the country. The country is where you raise chickens.鈥�
Ordinance at a glance
Here are major provisions of Belleville鈥檚
- Chickens will be allowed only on properties with single-family dwellings.
- People who want chickens must get permits that cost $25 a year.
- Permits require inspections by health, housing and building officials.
- Each permit allows up to six chickens, all hens (no roosters).
- Selling eggs and other commercial purposes are prohibited.
- Fighting, breeding and slaughtering chickens also are prohibited.
- Chickens must be kept inside a sturdy wire fence or other enclosure at all times.
- They must be secured in a hen house or chicken tractor at night.
- Enclosures must be clean, dry, odor-free, neat and sanitary.
- Hen houses must provide 4 square feet of space per chicken.
- They must have adequate ventilation, sun and shade.
- They must be impermeable to rodents, wild birds, dogs and cats.
- They must be made of uniform materials and no taller than 6 feet.
- They must be 10 feet from homes, churches, schools or businesses.
鈥淥dors from chickens, chicken manure or other chicken related disturbance shall not be perceptible beyond the boundaries of the permitted tract of land,鈥� the ordinance states.
鈥淣oise from chickens shall not be loud enough beyond the boundaries of the permitted tract of land at the property boundaries to disturb persons of reasonable sensitivity.鈥�
Motivated by egg prices
in Belleville came up in 2015, but it didn鈥檛 even make it out of the City Council鈥檚 Public Health and Housing Committee. Collinsville lifted its ban the same year, followed by Swansea in 2016, Shiloh in 2017 and Edwardsville in 2018.
In February, Belleville resident Louis Holm stood up at a City Council meeting and reintroduced the idea of changing the ordinance. At that time, he was motivated by the skyrocketing cost of eggs.
Today, the public seems more open on the chicken issue than in the past, and other metro-east communities have reported few problems since lifting their bans, according to Scott Tyler, Belleville鈥檚 director of health, housing and building.
鈥淎s long as you keep the roosters out of the equation, waking everybody up, you鈥檙e OK,鈥� he said.
Tyler said he isn鈥檛 concerned about coop inspections putting too much of a burden on his department because he doesn鈥檛 think that many Belleville residents will want to spend the time and energy it takes to care for chickens.
In addition to approving the new ordinance, the City Council amended the existing ordinance on 鈥渁nimal care鈥� so that it no longer prohibits chickens. Still prohibited are goats, pigs, sheep, cattle and other farm animals and ducks, geese, guinea hens, pigeons and other fowl.
Teri Maddox is a reporter with the , a news partner of 漏 2024 外网天堂.
