Local resident hopes chicken ban doesn't fly

Esther Weddell loves to look out of her window and see her three chickens happily running around her yard.

“I enjoy just seeing them,” she said. “I find them pleasant.”

The chickens provide fresh eggs and eat destructive grubs from the lawn, among other benefits, she said.

So Weddell is dismayed that Farmington may amend its animal ordinance to prohibit residents from keeping the birds.

Planning commissioners recently approved revising its animal ordinance to specifically prohibit chickens, following a request by city officials to firm up its ordinance. The City Council will next vote on the change.

“I do not object to the city imposing reasonable restrictions on the backyard chicken keeper,” said Weddell. “But I think an outright ban is overreaching.”

No ruffled feathers

Weddell got her birds this spring, when they were small yellow chicks.

Before she did so, she researched city laws.

Farmington's ordinance on “raising and keeping of animals” reads: “No person shall keep an animal upon their property that creates a nuisance by means, such as, but not limited to, the annoyance, injury or endangerment of the safety, health or quiet enjoyment of persons upon public property or upon private property within reasonable proximity of the animal's place of keeping.”

Her birds don't conflict with that law, she said.

“I intentionally do not have a rooster which some people could find annoying,” she said. “I really don't think that my three hens endanger anyone's health, safety or quiet enjoyment.”

Her neighbors haven't complained, she said. And they seem to enjoy the fresh eggs that she shares with them as well as with friends and family.

“The kids in my neighborhood come over to see the chickens and look for eggs,” she said.

She wrote to council members to express her opinion and to invite them to see her chickens.

Reached for comment, Mayor Tom Buck said that he had not as yet seen the revised ordinance so couldn't comment on it. Buck said, however, that he appreciated the Weddells' letter.

“They sent a very informative e-mail to council, which I thought was very constructive and helpful and provided some good education on the topic,” he said. ”We will certainly take that into consideration in our deliberations.”

Friendly birds

Weddell, who until recently taught dance at Dancing Feats in downtown Farmington, spoke from her quiet neighborhood on Manning Street this week.

Upon going outside, the three birds came running up to eat the feed that she put in two bowls.

Although they have distinct maple colorings, they don't have names.

“I just call them chickees,” she said.

Picking one up, the other two ran off clucking.

“They like to be together,” she said. “They are really fascinating,” she added. “They are like dinosaurs. They have reptilian feet and they lay eggs like dinosaurs. They don't peck but they do scratch though, so you have to be careful.”

Weddell said her father used to keep chickens and was a beekeeper in Livonia, which got her thinking about having her own chickens.

With her two daughters, both Farmington High graduates, on their own now, she thought the time was right.

Her husband, Michael, helps her out, she said.

Even her dog likes them, she said.

The chicken coop is next to the yard. It's full of clean hay and is lightweight and mobile.

The birds have the run of the pesticide-free yard.

They are clean birds, she said. She pointed out a garden bed of dirt where they take “dust baths,” which smother any mites they may have, she said.

Her biggest problem has been that “when they were adolescents they got out of the yard through a gap,” in the enclosed yard.

“I always grabbed them or our neighbor across the street would bring them over.”

Many benefits

Weddell listed some of the benefits she's found from keeping the birds, including: “They are easy and inexpensive to maintain; produce fresh, great-tasting and nutritious eggs; they take care of bugs; they're good company; they're pretty; they provide the best fertilizer in the world, and it decomposes quickly; it's nice because kids want to visit; they are friendly.”

Weddell says that she'll comply should there be restrictions on the ordinance, such as limiting the number of birds based on the size of the yard.

She's prepared to give them away should it come to that. A farmer at the Farmington Farmers Market has agreed to take them in that instance, she said.

She hopes that doesn't happen.

“It's so funny that a city called Farmington would think about banning chickens,” she said.

New pecking order

“It’s a better location. We wanted to be closer to downtown Wilkes-Barre,” said owner John

Stuchkus. The location would be convenient for local college students, who make up a

significant percentage of the Chicken Coop’s customer base, he said. The large number of

other businesses nearby was also a draw, he added.

Inside, the restaurant’s doucor has a sports theme, with an emphasis on Philadelphia sports.

Memorabilia honoring the Phillies and the Flyers decorate the walls, just as in the old

restaurant. The soups and sauces are still homemade. The restaurant is open for lunch and

dinner, 11 a.m. to 2 a.m., or “whenever the bar dies down,” said Stuchkus.

There are some changes, too. The new restaurant can seat up to 100 people. Stuchkus has added

more sandwiches and appetizers to the menu.

Stuchkus is particularly proud of the Chicken Coop’s hamburgers.

“Our hamburgers are 10 ounces. That’s the biggest in the area,” he said.

The Chicken Coop has a three-year lease with local architectural and engineering firm Pasonick

Engineering. The restaurant has six full-time employees, and is seeking to hire at least four

more.

This is not the first time that the Chicken Coop has moved. Founded in 1988, the first

location was on Wyoming Avenue in Wyoming. The restaurant moved from there in 1991 to the

intersection of Fox Hill Road and Route 315 in Plains Township. After the roof at that

location collapsed during a snowstorm in 2007, the Chicken Coop moved to the former Arena Bar

& Grill on Scott Street.

Stuchkus is optimistic about the North Wilkes-Barre Boulevard location.

“We’ve had a good turnout so far. The response has been positive. Things are going good,”

he said.