EDITOR,
Only two persons spoke out against chickens at the first of two public hearings, myself included. No one spoke in favour. Due to a technicality, the public hearing was to be repeated on Tuesday (May 6).
Because this change is buried in an omnibus bill that includes some 80-odd housekeeping changes, I suggest that it was an unreasonable and undemocratic way to introduce a potentially neighbourhood-character-changing bylaw!
On March 18, four councillors (Chapelle, Heintzman, Prior and Raiser) supported the inclusion of urban agriculture in the omnibus bill in single-family zones, against the advice they received from their planning department, because there would be no regulations in place and anything falling under the definition of “fowl,” i.e. turkeys, roosters, etc. could be kept. The definition, as it now reads in the draft zoning bylaw, states that urban agriculture is defined “the act of growing food on a lot zoned for residential use, in addition to produce grown in a garden; this also includes community gardens, fruit and nut tree production, the keeping of poultry, fowl, or bees; and agricultural retail sales limited to 30 square metres in gross floor area, and provided that at least 75 per cent of goods for sale are produced on site.”
Planning, very sensibly, proposed the introduction of “chicken co-ops” instead.
I understand that some individuals feel that raising eggs and meat-producing birds in your backyards provides a valuable education for children. That’s a really sweet idea, but what does that have to do with keeping chickens in urban areas? There are alternatives — visit a petting zoo or a farm in the Squamish Valley. There is much more to the keeping of fowl than the occasional interaction after school and the gathering of eggs. From my research, you will need to set aside time for: cleaning, giving medication, feeding, grooming, parasite control, physical exams, coop and enclosure construction, maintenance and repair and travel time for purchase of supplies.
We still have a highly transient population as evidenced by the mattresses and household articles dumped in our backwoods. And if you don’t want abandoned “fowl” being chased by bears, cougars and coyotes in your backyard, write to city hall.
Fast forward and try to envision the appearance of your neighbourhood in five or 10 years if this bylaw is passed. Imagine your street with vegetable stands in various construction styles at the corner of each driveway, and the increase of traffic it will bring, or try to imagine your Sunday morning sleep-ins disturbed by the clucking of neighbours’ chickens, not to mention the wildlife attractant backyard chickens would become. Didn’t we just recently expend an enormous amount of energy acquiring new garbage totes at the taxpayers’ expense to discourage bears from becoming habituated, and isn’t there a bylaw that says all fruit must be picked from trees so that it will not be a bear attractant? Please keep chickens on the farm in rural areas where they belong.
Herbert Vesely
Squamish
