Grantwood Village roosts its case

Grantwood Village recently hatched a plan that was eggs-actly what chicken lovers wanted.

The village will allow residents to keep chickens in their backyards. The hens will scratch out a living by providing their owners with fresh eggs.

"We feel that this will be a good law," said Cathy Forand, chairman of the Grantwood Village Board of Trustees. "We were looking for ways for people to have chickens without disturbing their neighbors."

Households will have a limit of four hens with no roosters, so as to keep down the noise. They must be kept in a covered, fenced enclosure with the chicken coop inside of it. The area and coop must be kept clean to avoid fowl odors.

Finally, the enclosure must be attached to the back wall of the house.

"One of our concerns was not violating the city's out-building law," Forand said. "In Grantwood Village, it is against the law to have an unattached structure on the property."

By attaching it to the back wall, the coop and cluckers also will not be seen from the street.

The village's board of trustees approved the plan at its Oct. 18 meeting. An ordinance to pass the plan will be on the Nov. 15 agenda.

Since none of the trustees knew anything about chickens, they turned to resident Elise Vandover, 43, who became the unofficial "chicken commissioner."

Vandover has raised chickens outside of Grantwood Village for much of her life. She sometimes serves as a consultant for groups interested in raising chickens. Working with the trustees, she helped put together the regulations that will be part of the upcoming ordinance.

"We've asked people to have an open mind," said Vandover at the trustees' meeting. "Chickens are quiet, but they need work to keep them clean. The goal is not to enrage your neighbor."

Florence Stalley, 80, is a longtime resident who earlier objected to the proposal.

Her concern was people having a large group of chickens in their backyards. During World War II, her family kept 50 hens on their property for eggs and food. She knows how messy chickens can be.

However, after hearing the proposal, she was pleased at the limit of four birds.

"They've got some good restrictions here," Stalley said. "I'm fine with it, now. My only concern was the number. A lot of people have shown interest, so I expected the village to approve it."

The issue came up in September when the village discovered that a resident had kept three hens for over a year in her backyard. However, a look at the village's code showed there were two contradictory ordinances; one said chickens were considered to be a pest while another said they could be pets.

Passage of this new bill will wipe the old ordinances off the books, freeing chickens to have a new home to come to roost.