Group wants urban chicken debate reopened

By Medicine Hat News on May 8, 2020.

A group of Hatters is pushing to reopen the debate about raising urban chickens, saying the pandemic as well as successful pilot projects in other cities shows the value of hens to the community.

The issue was last dealt with by city council prior to the 2013 election, with the majority saying the practice was too cumbersome to regulate and had the potential to create neighbourhood complaints that would outweigh the benefits.

Now, more than 750 residents have signed a new petition asking for city hall to consider the practice the advocates say is a clean, economical way to move toward food security.

“Cities and people have done the research and found the common myths – they’re smelly or noisy – just aren’t true,” said Matthew Gourlay, a Hatter aligned with urban farming group Canadian Liberated Urban Chicken Club, or CLUCK.

He said that with current concerns about food supply and food security, it’s time for the city to reconsider allowing Hatters to keep coops in backyards like other cities in Alberta.

“There are health benefits, and everyone should be thinking about more sustainable living. This is an opportunity to do that.”

In 2012, the City of Medicine Hat’s planning department proposed a limited number of sites be allowed and monitored to examine the community’s level of acceptance in a pilot project. That was voted down however, after aldermen said they had heard strong opposition from residents and then Mayor Norm Boucher spoke out against the idea. Boucher grew up on a large-scale chicken farm, and said smell and noise wasn’t acceptable in residential areas.

Since then the City of Edmonton instituted a backyard coop pilot project and in May 2019 lifted its cap site licence after an inspection.

Since 2014, Red Deer has allowed up to four hens per licensed address, and has capped the total number of licences issued at one per 1,000 residents, or about 100 at current population.

In February the City of Calgary asked for public feedback on urban agriculture, including beekeeping and henhouses, as it prepared updates to its animal-related bylaws.

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