"Don't think we don't listen to you. You've already changed the thinking about this, no matter what happens," said Deputy Mayor Fred Profeta tonight to the many local residents who showed at Town Hall to protest the pending introduction of an ordinance allowing for raising backyard chickens in Maplewood.
More than a dozen residents had spoken during public comments against such an ordinance, citing issues such as rats, guano, noise and negatively impacted property values.
A few others spoke in favor, touting the benefits of locally grown food and education — as well as the charms of chickens as pets.
Those in favor included Reesa Salomon who chaired the Green Team Committee that recommended the pilot program and new resident Helen Donaldson, who raised three hens in her small backyard in Australia.
Salomon restated the positive aspects she had spoken about at an earlier Township Commitee meeting — raising food locally and educating children — and added that "if there were major issues, these other town would have shut down" their chicken ordinances. She also argued that the majority of rats were drawn by food left out to feed birds or feral cats.
Jason Hackett offered sometimes conflicting testimony — saying that raising chickens in a suburban environment ought not be attempted, but also adding that, if allowed, butchering chickens should be a part of the ordinance to show the full "circle of life."
Other opponents were simpler and clearer in their opposition.
"I have rats," said Susan Stone of Summit Avenue. "It's very embarrassing." Stone said she could not go in her back yard or have friends over for a barbeque on her deck. "If you add chickens, it's worse. It's disgusting."
Marli Craig of Summit Avenue presented an online petition against the chicken coop ordinance. It had been signed by 84 residents online and three more at the meeting. In response to a change introduced by Profeta that coops and runs would be required to be raised with trays below to capture feces, Craig asked, "Where will those trays be washed and drained?" She said she was worried for the health of her child.
Joan Crystal felt that "the town does not have the greatest record when it comes to enforcing ordinances." She offered the examples of sidewalks and illegal renters. "We leave it to citizens to report."
Jim LoStuto of Summit Avenue wondered who would test the birds to ensure that they were disease-free. He also argued that the schools provide field trips and bring farmers markets into the schools (at least at Tuscan Elementary) to educate children about farming and nutrition. LoStuto also worried about the cost to the town for enforcement.
New resident Michael Goldstein of Midland Boulevard said he and his wife "would emphatically not have purchased a home with a chicken coop adjacent."
Catherine Racette of Midland Boulevard said, "This ordinance doesn't solve anything," noting that there was no shortage of eggs or chickens.
Ultimately, the Township Committee voted 3-2 to allow for an amended ordinance to be introduced on October 4 at the next Township Committee meeting. The second reading of the ordinance and public hearing would take place on October 18.
The ordinance was amended per suggestion of Mayor Vic DeLuca, in deference to public comments, to require that each permit applicant gain approval from neighbors. The ordinance would allow for 15 households throughout town to pilot the program over the course of one year. Also, as Profeta stated, coops and runs would be raised with trays underneath to catch guano; plus, food would be required to be kept indoors overnight so as not to attract rats.
Profeta felt strongly that "market value is about perception." Profeta thought that, although many residents now feel that chicken coops would lower property values, in time, prospective residents would prefer to locate in a town that allowed backyard chickens. In addition, the requirement to gain neighbors' approval would ensure that those opposed would not have to deal with nearby chicken coops.
"Do you think there's a snowball's chance that anybody is going to raise chickens in your neighborhood?" Profeta asked the many residents of the Midland Boulevard and Summit Avenue neighborhood present. "It ain't happening."
DeLuca said he understood that a number of residents who came out to protest the proposed ordinance at this meeting and the last might be frustrated by the continuation of the ordinance, but he said "that's the process." DeLuca said that there may be many more people for or against the pilot program — "we may have barely scratched the surface" — but he said, "I'm of the mind to introduce the ordinance and through the process we will find out."
2011年9月21日星期三
2011年3月22日星期二
The Chicken Coop King
Ray Cooper is not the first small businessman to struggle to persuade retailers to grant him space for his unique product. An artisan craftsman of full-sized chicken coops made from recycled chicken barns, many of them a hundred years old, each of Cooper's coops requires a floor space equivalent of a California King-sized bed.
In other words, they are big, big coops. Think mini-van. Think tree house. Think, where do you put it?
"No, it wasn't easy at first," says the 52-year-old Cooper. "But then RiverTown gave me a chance and pretty quick we had a day when we sold two."
Cooper is an eco-Renaissance man who has dedicated himself to sustainable practices like keeping egg-laying hens. A soft spoken, yet energetic conversationalist, Cooper is passionate about recycling. He has recently become a vegetarian, lives within his means, hikes instead of driving when he can and is passing on his creative skills to his 22-year-old son and assistant, Kevin Cooper.
He doesn't want to be the Henry Ford of chicken coops, he says. Instead he wants to be a Green Michelangelo, rejecting staples altogether, taking the time to use screws instead of nails, and searching garage sales and thrift stores for vintage painted wood chickens to decorate the front doors.
He is also pack-ratting small stained glass windows that add sparkle, distinguishing these coops as rustic jewel boxes of barnyards.
"The windows can be a challenge because you don't find them small and when you do, you don't find them cheap," said Cooper with a grin.
A former handyman for his family's real estate business and milk truck driver, Cooper hopes to hone his chicken coop model, which maximizes the eaves for nest boxes and has removable wire grid floors, into the eco-Cadillac of coops.
They'll never be cheap, he says. But they'll be worth the cost to people who understand the challenges of lovingly collecting and rehabbing old, thick and wide redwood lumber. Cooper figures if he pays himself and his son $10 to $20 an hour, he'll be happy. That means he'll have to charge up to $1,000 a piece for the one or two coops he can fabricate each month in a small, cramped barn on a hill overlooking the Petaluma Outlets.
"I'm making them all from hundred-year-old, inch thick redwood, which I took down myself. These old barns lasted a hundred years and the coops will last another hundred years," he said.
He's so busy and entrenched in his creative labors, that he's yet to brand his coops. If you ask the folks at RiverTown who makes the coops, they'll write Cooper's name and phone number on your sales slip.
"Everyone is going back to the land and old ways. Chickens have never been more popular. More and more people are discovering them. If I can do work I'm passionate about and receive the fruits of my own labors? That's all I can ask," Cooper says.
In other words, they are big, big coops. Think mini-van. Think tree house. Think, where do you put it?
"No, it wasn't easy at first," says the 52-year-old Cooper. "But then RiverTown gave me a chance and pretty quick we had a day when we sold two."
Cooper is an eco-Renaissance man who has dedicated himself to sustainable practices like keeping egg-laying hens. A soft spoken, yet energetic conversationalist, Cooper is passionate about recycling. He has recently become a vegetarian, lives within his means, hikes instead of driving when he can and is passing on his creative skills to his 22-year-old son and assistant, Kevin Cooper.
He doesn't want to be the Henry Ford of chicken coops, he says. Instead he wants to be a Green Michelangelo, rejecting staples altogether, taking the time to use screws instead of nails, and searching garage sales and thrift stores for vintage painted wood chickens to decorate the front doors.
He is also pack-ratting small stained glass windows that add sparkle, distinguishing these coops as rustic jewel boxes of barnyards.
"The windows can be a challenge because you don't find them small and when you do, you don't find them cheap," said Cooper with a grin.
A former handyman for his family's real estate business and milk truck driver, Cooper hopes to hone his chicken coop model, which maximizes the eaves for nest boxes and has removable wire grid floors, into the eco-Cadillac of coops.
They'll never be cheap, he says. But they'll be worth the cost to people who understand the challenges of lovingly collecting and rehabbing old, thick and wide redwood lumber. Cooper figures if he pays himself and his son $10 to $20 an hour, he'll be happy. That means he'll have to charge up to $1,000 a piece for the one or two coops he can fabricate each month in a small, cramped barn on a hill overlooking the Petaluma Outlets.
"I'm making them all from hundred-year-old, inch thick redwood, which I took down myself. These old barns lasted a hundred years and the coops will last another hundred years," he said.
He's so busy and entrenched in his creative labors, that he's yet to brand his coops. If you ask the folks at RiverTown who makes the coops, they'll write Cooper's name and phone number on your sales slip.
"Everyone is going back to the land and old ways. Chickens have never been more popular. More and more people are discovering them. If I can do work I'm passionate about and receive the fruits of my own labors? That's all I can ask," Cooper says.
2011年2月28日星期一
Chicken with Charred Cauliflower and Peppers
As a child, I remember going out to the chicken coop with my grandma when I visited her
and my grandpa at their Indiana farm. We'd walk through an area of the farmyard
reserved for rambunctious geese as they honked wildly and flapped their strong wings
around my legs.
My grandma would protect me as she hurried me along toward the old wooden chicken coop.
Always fearful of being pecked by pointy, sharp beaks, I stood to the side and watched
with awe as my grandma gently tucked her hand under sitting hens, pulling out large
eggs.
The thought of ever having my own chickens never crossed my mind, until a couple of
years ago when I began hearing of urban and suburban dwellers having a few chickens so
that they could enjoy unbelievably fresh eggs.
It sounded charming and romantic. I pictured myself heading out to a cute little hen
house tucked into a corner of my yard, my dog scampering beside me, anxious to visit
the chickens. I would gather fresh eggs, make a quick stop to snip fresh herbs from the
garden, then head back to the kitchen to create plump, fluffy omelets to eat with whole
grain toast and a steaming cup of freshly brewed coffee. But those daydreams were just
a passing fantasy. I began purchasing eggs and whole, pasture-raised chickens from area
farmers instead.
But, oh dear. A couple of weeks ago I got a copy of "Chicken and Egg: A Memoir of
Suburban Homesteading with 125 Recipes by Janice Cole." One look at the charming cover
of the book and I started getting all dreamy again with visions of colorful hens
strutting their stuff around a darling little chicken coop in my yard.
Cole's book is a combination of her stories about her first year of raising her own few
hens in her backyard in a suburb of St. Paul. Minn., and more than 100 recipes she
developed using chicken and eggs. As you read of the sometimes humorous and always
interesting adventures of Cole's first year owning chickens, you will feel as though
you are sitting right across the table from her, sipping coffee and nibbling on a sweet
treat that she whipped up with some of her amazingly fresh eggs. Although "Chicken and
Egg" is not a how-to-raise-chickens-in-your-yard guidebook, it is filled with tips that
can help you decide if you really do want to make the commitment.
As you spend time thinking about the charms and challenges of having your own chickens,
you can try some of the down-to-earth, easy-to-follow recipes that Cole shares in the
book, using all parts of the chicken. The book is divided seasonally, because chickens
are seasonal in their behavior.
Chicken with Charred Cauliflower and Peppers is a delicious example of the family-
friendly recipes that abound in "Chicken and Egg." High-temperature roasting brings out
the best in this cauliflower, red bell pepper and chicken drumstick combo. The
vegetables become toasty brown along the edges, developing sweet, nutty flavors. Skin
on chicken drumsticks gets slightly crispy, while the meat oozes with juiciness when
poked with a fork
After becoming acquainted with Cole and her sweet little hens, each with her own name
and unique personality, you will be tempted to become a backyard farmer. You will
definitely feel drawn to seek out the freshest eggs and chickens you can find from
farmers in your area, farmers markets and natural food co-ops.
I'm wondering how I can turn the storage shed in the woods alongside the driveway into
a chicken coop. I can just picture my grandchildren, baskets in hand, going out with me
to gather eggs. Of course, my hens would never dream of pecking little hands.
and my grandpa at their Indiana farm. We'd walk through an area of the farmyard
reserved for rambunctious geese as they honked wildly and flapped their strong wings
around my legs.
My grandma would protect me as she hurried me along toward the old wooden chicken coop.
Always fearful of being pecked by pointy, sharp beaks, I stood to the side and watched
with awe as my grandma gently tucked her hand under sitting hens, pulling out large
eggs.
The thought of ever having my own chickens never crossed my mind, until a couple of
years ago when I began hearing of urban and suburban dwellers having a few chickens so
that they could enjoy unbelievably fresh eggs.
It sounded charming and romantic. I pictured myself heading out to a cute little hen
house tucked into a corner of my yard, my dog scampering beside me, anxious to visit
the chickens. I would gather fresh eggs, make a quick stop to snip fresh herbs from the
garden, then head back to the kitchen to create plump, fluffy omelets to eat with whole
grain toast and a steaming cup of freshly brewed coffee. But those daydreams were just
a passing fantasy. I began purchasing eggs and whole, pasture-raised chickens from area
farmers instead.
But, oh dear. A couple of weeks ago I got a copy of "Chicken and Egg: A Memoir of
Suburban Homesteading with 125 Recipes by Janice Cole." One look at the charming cover
of the book and I started getting all dreamy again with visions of colorful hens
strutting their stuff around a darling little chicken coop in my yard.
Cole's book is a combination of her stories about her first year of raising her own few
hens in her backyard in a suburb of St. Paul. Minn., and more than 100 recipes she
developed using chicken and eggs. As you read of the sometimes humorous and always
interesting adventures of Cole's first year owning chickens, you will feel as though
you are sitting right across the table from her, sipping coffee and nibbling on a sweet
treat that she whipped up with some of her amazingly fresh eggs. Although "Chicken and
Egg" is not a how-to-raise-chickens-in-your-yard guidebook, it is filled with tips that
can help you decide if you really do want to make the commitment.
As you spend time thinking about the charms and challenges of having your own chickens,
you can try some of the down-to-earth, easy-to-follow recipes that Cole shares in the
book, using all parts of the chicken. The book is divided seasonally, because chickens
are seasonal in their behavior.
Chicken with Charred Cauliflower and Peppers is a delicious example of the family-
friendly recipes that abound in "Chicken and Egg." High-temperature roasting brings out
the best in this cauliflower, red bell pepper and chicken drumstick combo. The
vegetables become toasty brown along the edges, developing sweet, nutty flavors. Skin
on chicken drumsticks gets slightly crispy, while the meat oozes with juiciness when
poked with a fork
After becoming acquainted with Cole and her sweet little hens, each with her own name
and unique personality, you will be tempted to become a backyard farmer. You will
definitely feel drawn to seek out the freshest eggs and chickens you can find from
farmers in your area, farmers markets and natural food co-ops.
I'm wondering how I can turn the storage shed in the woods alongside the driveway into
a chicken coop. I can just picture my grandchildren, baskets in hand, going out with me
to gather eggs. Of course, my hens would never dream of pecking little hands.
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