Raising chickens in Ferndale is a peck closer to being compliant under city ordinance.
The revised ordinance addressing the raising and keeping of fowl in Ferndale is to be discussed at the next Planning Commission meeting Sept. 14. If approved by the commission, it will then go to City Council to decide if it needs to be revised again or enacted.
Currently, it is against city ordinance to keep a chicken coop within 150 feet of any standing structure, which ultimately makes it impossible for any Ferndale residents to own and raise chickens based on lot sizes in the city. On July 27, a revision to the ordinance addressing the raising and keeping of fowl in Ferndale was presented to the Ferndale Planning Commission.
The revisions to the ordinance would make it possible. Revisions included scaling back the 150 feet requirement to 10 feet – coops would have to be at least 10 feet away from any standing structure. The chickens must remain in the back yard and a resident raising chickens could have no more than three chickens. Roosters would be prohibited.
The common concerns of residents, which include attracting rats and foul odors, would be upheld under current ordinances with the city, said Community and Economic Development Director Derek Delacourt.
"The raising and keeping of any animal requires residents to follow city ordinances," he said. "When people don't keep up any animals there are negative impacts, regardless of what kind of animal it is."
The revision of the chicken ordinance wouldn't specifically cover these concerns because, as Delacourt said, current ordinances already regulate this. "Major concerns of odor and vermin are enforced in a multitude of ordinances in the city already," he said. "For the odor itself, I don't think it would be violated without a lot of other ordinances being violated."
Delacourt said he consulted other cities in Michigan that have revised or enacted ordinances to allow residential chickens. Traverse City, Madison Heights and Ypsilanti were discussed at the July 27 Ferndale meeting.
"Similar to Ferndale there was a strong desire to implement some type of relaxed or flexible ordinance (for chickens) as far as city ordinances," Delacourt said. "They've gone through a lot of the same questions and discussions with council and staff."
Delacourt said there has been little uproar in Traverse City since it enacted its ordinance, now in its second year. "There have been very few complaints," Delacourt said. "(In Traverse City) only 10 to 15 permits were pulled. There was one complaint because someone had a rooster, but that was an ordinance violation anyway and taken care of."
Ferndale's new city manager, April McGrath, was the assistant city manager in Ypsilanti, a city that also went through a chicken ordinance revision in 2008.
2011年8月30日星期二
2011年4月24日星期日
Uber-Green, Urban Couple
In the heart of Seabright, twin biodiesel fueled VWs sit in the driveway of Dee and Daniel Wright’s home. But, driving eco-friendly vehicles is just the beginning for this uber-green, urban couple.
“Every week, I teach fifth and sixth graders how they can reduce their impact. I tell them about saving energy, little things they can do every day, like putting on a sweater instead of turning up the heat, and opening the blinds instead of turning on the lights, carpooling, riding their bikes, saving water, things they can reuse, saving animals, not buying endangered products. Every week I tell them these things, and I try to practice what I preach,” said Daniel, who is a field instructor at Walden West, an outdoor education program in Saratoga. “Reusing and reducing is our philosophy. It happens to be economical. It’s a little more effort, but financially, it’s easy.”
The couple’s backyard is large for Santa Cruz, accommodating a chicken coop, tool shed, four raised beds, a hammock and a sitting area surrounding a fire pit made from a repurposed clothes dryer insert.
Their winter garden is abundant with organic onions, greens (sprayed with soap water to protect against aphids), carrots and Brussels sprouts. Orange, lime, peach and banana trees also grow in their yard.
Daniel made two compost tumblers from repurposed barrels, and constructed raised beds with scrap redwood he procured through Craigslist. While his toolbox is relatively small, Daniel is a fearless DIYer. He borrows tools they don’t own and collaborates with like-minded friends for ideas and gardening solutions.
Blanche, Dorothy and Rose, their three chickens, are named after the housemates and friends from the 1980s sitcom The Golden Girls.
“Chickens always seem to have old lady names, so we thought it would be fun to name them after the Golden Girls,” Dee said.
Both Dee and Daniel grew up in the suburbs and had no childhood experience growing vegetables. They are mostly vegetarian, but occasionally eat sustainably caught fish. The Wrights like growing their own organic food.
“Every week, I teach fifth and sixth graders how they can reduce their impact. I tell them about saving energy, little things they can do every day, like putting on a sweater instead of turning up the heat, and opening the blinds instead of turning on the lights, carpooling, riding their bikes, saving water, things they can reuse, saving animals, not buying endangered products. Every week I tell them these things, and I try to practice what I preach,” said Daniel, who is a field instructor at Walden West, an outdoor education program in Saratoga. “Reusing and reducing is our philosophy. It happens to be economical. It’s a little more effort, but financially, it’s easy.”
The couple’s backyard is large for Santa Cruz, accommodating a chicken coop, tool shed, four raised beds, a hammock and a sitting area surrounding a fire pit made from a repurposed clothes dryer insert.
Their winter garden is abundant with organic onions, greens (sprayed with soap water to protect against aphids), carrots and Brussels sprouts. Orange, lime, peach and banana trees also grow in their yard.
Daniel made two compost tumblers from repurposed barrels, and constructed raised beds with scrap redwood he procured through Craigslist. While his toolbox is relatively small, Daniel is a fearless DIYer. He borrows tools they don’t own and collaborates with like-minded friends for ideas and gardening solutions.
Blanche, Dorothy and Rose, their three chickens, are named after the housemates and friends from the 1980s sitcom The Golden Girls.
“Chickens always seem to have old lady names, so we thought it would be fun to name them after the Golden Girls,” Dee said.
Both Dee and Daniel grew up in the suburbs and had no childhood experience growing vegetables. They are mostly vegetarian, but occasionally eat sustainably caught fish. The Wrights like growing their own organic food.
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