January 2014 Update on the Movement to Allow Chickens in Aurora

We're so close! Where we now stand is that we have five "yes" votes: Sally Mounier, Renie Peterson, Debbi Hunter Holen, Bob LeGare and Marsha Berzins. We need six votes to pass. In a tie (which we currently have with five) the mayor will vote (otherwise he doesn't vote) so we need a yes from Mayor Steve Hogan (303-739-7015) and/or another council member. The member closest to giving us a yes is Barb Cleland, 303-739-7524. Call your representative and each of the At Large members, let him or her know you support chickens, thank them for a yes vote, or ask them to consider chickens. Let them know why you support this change in the ordinance.

Next, we have 491 signatures on our online petition - let's hit 500 before the next study session meeting on February 10th! Get your friends and neighbors to sign the petition to legalize chickens in Aurora here.

So this Study Session: The ordinance change has come up in Study Session (a meeting of council members to hash out details), and changes have been proposed in the interest of compromising and making anti-chicken council members reconsider their position. The main changes are that the proposed ordinance would allow for only four chickens per household and that you would have to notify your neighbors (probably in writing by mail and they wouldn't have to approve it, just not fight your getting chickens) before getting chickens. You would have to purchase a permit, keep the coop and run clean, and keep your hens (no roosters) in the run at all times. There are two responses to this "let the neighbors know" bit: one, if that's what we have to agree to in order to get this thing passed, fine; two, you don't have to notify your neighbors if you want a dog or a cockatiel, so why chickens??? Let your council members know how you feel about the requirement to notify your neighbors about your getting chickens.

With a revised ordinance that at least six members of council can live with, we could legalize chickens in time for spring hatching!

However, if it gets turned down at this stage, the next step is to get it on the ballot for next November, and let citizens vote on it.

Sign, call, and recruit neighbors. Let the naysayers know that this isn't just a backwoods crazy plan to hick-ify Aurora, but a sustainable, popular movement that connects us with the land, our food, and our neighbors.

October Update - Chickens in Aurora, CO

The good news first: We have four Yes votes - we need six to pass the change to the ordinance. Renie Peterson, Sally Mounier, Marsha Berzins, and Bob LeGare have pledged to vote yes on chickens. Our next step is to get at least one more yes vote, preferably two (the mayor votes in the case of a tie vote, and if we get one more solid Yes, we can work on him, too, as our sixth).

Debi Hunter Holen, Barb Cleland, Brad Pierce, and Molly Markert are all undecided, and need to be worked on (i.e, called, emailed). Debi responds well to calls and people's requests and communication. She is concerned primarily with attracting predators and what people do with hens when they stop laying. Barb Cleland wants to see what the committee comes up with when the issue is brought to the Quality of Life meeting in November. This committee is currently headed by Molly Markert, who is personally opposed to allowing chickens, but she, too, listens to her constituency. She is beginning to consider the idea because a neighbor of hers wants chickens.

Bob Roth is the same; he is opposed, but this is partly because he thinks everyone in his ward (5) are against chickens. If you are in Ward 5, ORGANIZE your neighbors and get petition signatures to show him that Ward 5 wants chickens, too. He listens to his constituency.

Next steps: keep collecting signatures and call those council members. In November the idea will come up before the Quality of Life Committee, a meeting you can attend but cannot comment. Then it will go to a study session in December (after the election, which may or may not affect our count of Yes votes), and may come up for a vote, if we have six yeses, in January or February.

Please also call or email Renie Peterson to thank her for her support. She gave it publicly on tv!

By the way, hens do not attract anymore predators than cats and small dogs do. They are kept in a secure coop and run, where the wire needs to be buried at least 10 inches deep so predators can't dig under the wire. Another concern people have is smell - if you keep a small coop/run cleaned (it's a weekly job or so), they don't stink. Not like dogs! Another concern is what to do with hens after they stop laying. Some people keep them, as they become attached to them as pets. Most people, however, find a person out in agriculturally zoned land to take their chickens so they can live out their natural life out of the city, where people have room to keep non-laying hens (or eat them; we don't slaughter chickens in urban or suburban settings). Same thing when you accidentally get a rooster; you give it to someone who has a farm. I personally know four people who could take any birds I could not keep. It's all about community.

We're Winning!

Bit by bit, I think we are swaying City Council. I attended Sally Mounier's Town Hall meeting last Tuesday evening to hear from At Large members. They spoke about the budget surplus, education, business incentives, and - chickens! I was glad to hear that the objections about chickens are the usual - don't bother the neighbors, noise, etc. There were concerns that we need to have a plan for 1) how to include the neighbors in the process to assure that they approve (or don't hate) the idea of someone having chickens, and 2) protecting hens in winter. They wondered how we would get coops approved by zoning people, and wanted information from other municipalities like Denver and Longmont to hear what challenges they have had or not had as far as infrastructure and costs. They also spoke about how the zoning officers are spread thin, so I wonder if we might use existing positions like animal care or the Dumb friends' League, or even just responsible community members to make sure that hens are cared for appropriately.

So our next step is to educate and inform. You can use the Q and A form I created, emailing them and then calling to follow up, or you can speak at a City Council meeting. Use your three minutes (be sure to sign up to speak before the meeting) to express your support of the idea and let them know you understand their concerns, but here are the facts about predators, noise, smell, and hardiness of hens (they are, by the way, okay down to 10 degrees Fahrenheit, at which point you can put a heat lamp, coop heater, or even those breakable pocket hand warmers into the coop to keep them warm). Invite the City Council members to attend Denver's coop tour on September 21st.

We also have an agenda to bring up at the September 16th meeting (Crawford Community Center, 1600 Florence, 6 pm): What do we want to do about enlisting the cooperation of neighbors? How do we want to keep chicken owners accountable? How can we do this without straining city resources? What can we learn from other cities?

Our plan as it stands now is to continue to call, email, and speak to inform and ask for support. We will continue to get petitions signed. After the election in November, we will see where we stand with the new council, and bring it up for vote once we have 6 members willing to vote yes to changing the ordinance. So far, PK Kaiser (running for At Large), Sally Mounier, Renie Peterson, and Bob LeGare are for chickens. Matt Cook, Brad Pierce, and Barb Cleland are for it if we get the details figured out. We need six votes.

By the way, we were complemented on our political action. A long time politically active woman told me she was impressed with how active we are. Keep it up!

Want to get involved? Speak at City Council Meetings

As you may know, we now have an online petition at https://www.change.org/petitions/aurora-colorado-city-council-allow-homeowners-to-keep-chickens that residents of Aurora are urged to sign. I also have a paper/ hard copy version to share with friends and neighbors who are not online here http://www.scribd.com/doc/160359637/Petition. We would like to get signatures completed to present to council by September 16.

Our next meeting will be Monday, September 16 at 6 pm at Crawford Community Center (school), 1600 Florence St, Aurora.Bring your paper petitions.

Meanwhile, consider going to an Aurora City Council Meeting, where you will have three minutes at the beginning of the meeting (after the pledge and such) to speak on anything you want to bring up, such as your wanting the council to change the chicken ordinance and allow us to keep well tended backyard hens. The meeting dates are:

August 12 and 26

September 9 and 30

October 14 and 28

Aurora Municipal Center, Council Chambers, First Floor, 7:30pm.  

You sign up to present, in order of who signed up, at about 7:45. You don't have to be a great speaker, just get your voice heard. 

We will present our petition with final signature count to City Council in September. We aren't sure yet when we will bring the ordinance up for an official vote - we'll know when, depending on how much support we are able to muster. 

Also consider coming to Sally's Ward I meeting on  September 10, 6-8 pm at MLK library, where the At Large members will be featured. I will ask them whether they support legalizing of chickens in Aurora, so we can see where they stand. 

Here is another thing you can do:

Email (or leave a phone message)

Access Aurora - 303.739.7000 or access@auroragov.org

• Use this method giving your name and address saying you would like your statement (about why you want chickens) to be emailed to the Mayor and the entire City Council.  Use your own words, be as succinct as you can, and ask for a reply from each council member.

After you have emailed Access Aurora, give the council members 48 hours to respond, and then call them.  Again, do not take up too much of their time, but ask them for their support for allowing hens in Aurora.  They probably will not commit their support until they see the wording of the ordinance, and maybe not even then.  What you can ask them is if they were on council at the last chicken vote and how they voted.  Clea and I need to receive feedback so please email us with your comments.   Thank you very much.

Ward I

Sally Mounier – 303.625.3648 or sallymounier@comcast.net

Ward II

Renie Peterson – 303.363.6791

Ward III

Marsha Berzins – 720.838.3762

Ward IV

Molly Markert – 303.752.2614 or 303.941.2244

Ward V

Bob Roth – 720.202.2695

Ward VI

Bob Broom – 303.589.5057 or 303.693.2733

Council Members At Large

Bob LeGare – 303.819.8617 or 303.366.0113

Barb Cleland – 303.929.9855

Brad Pierce – 303.241.5559

Debi Hunter-Holen – 720.229.9165

 _____

When you contact them, or when you speak at a Council Meeting, could you please let me know? Either post a comment here with your statement, or send me an email, clea danaan at gmail dot com, no spaces etc. 

Here we go!! 

Petition to Aurora City Council, Upcoming Meetings

We have a petition! It took a bit because we wanted to make sure we were going about it the right way. We have an online petition and a paper petition. Please sign only one, but send people to sign one of them. They don't have to want chickens themselves, just be supportive of the idea. If someone likes fresh eggs, sustainable living, and the right to choose what reasonable pets a person can keep, they could be willing to sign the petition.

It asks for your address. We will not be tracking or bugging you, we just need to verify that you are an Aurora resident. We need all petitions signed by September 16th, 2013.

The link to the online petition is: http://www.change.org/petitions/aurora-colorado-city-council-to-allow-homeowners-to-keep-chickens 

The paper petition, which you can print out and share with your neighbors, is here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/160359637/Petition.

Sally Mounier has a Town Hall Meeting on Tuesday, Sept 10, to which chicken supporters are invited. These meetings will give us a chance to be heard, but also to determine who on council might be supportive, on the fence, or opposed to the changed chicken ordinance. Please join us at MLK library at 6 pm.

Finally, besides signing the petition, people can still call their city council representative. Most people don't know what ward they are in. To find out go here: http://apps.auroragov.org/Apps/Portal/Pages/government.cfm. Contact your ward representative and the At Large members, who represent the whole city.

Q & A for Concerns about Backyard Chickens

Why Should City Ordinance Allow Hens?

Cities all over America allow and even encourage backyard hens. They are fun, educational, and make good neighbors. Here are answers to the biggest concerns regarding backyard chickens.

Q: Aren’t chickens loud and obnoxious?
A: Hens are quieter than dogs or parrots. They do give out a baak-baak-baak noise when they lay an egg or see a predator, but it’s not early in the morning or at night and is, again, quieter than a barking dog. Roosters will not be allowed in city limits.

Q: Don’t they stink?
A: When well-cared-for as suburban pets (not as farm animals) they don't smell. This is as simple as weekly coop cleanings and daily attending to food and water, just like with any other pet.

Q: I don’t want chickens wandering around my neighbor’s yard, getting into my yard, or getting into the street. How are they contained? Is that cruel?
A: Backyard chickens lead happy, healthy lives. Kept in attractive garden coops they won't roam into neighbors' yards (like some dogs and cats do!) or the street. When we regulate backyard hen-keeping, we can establish rules like not allowing them to free range and making sure pens are secure from predators.

Q: Won’t they attract predators like coyotes and foxes? What about pests like rats?
A: Chickens kept in secure coops and runs do not attract pests or predators any more than do house cats or garden areas. Just like with dog food, their food is kept safely in secure containers and does not attract pests.

Q: I’ve heard that chickens carry avian flu. Is this true?
A: Any bird can get infected with avian influenza, but the strains that affect humans are very rare and have never been found in small, backyard flocks in the US. Most avian influenza found is in very large flocks of birds (and in the US are not the strains that can infect humans). This is true of other diseases as well, which is why store-bought eggs often contain antibiotics. Backyard hens’ eggs do not contain antibiotics, which makes them much safer to eat. Keeping hens in a secure run and coop reduces their risk of being exposed to wild birds (particularly wild waterfowl) which may be infected. The risk of salmonella is also much lower in a well-kept, small flock of suburban hens. As with caring for any pets, simply washing your hands well before and after handling or caring for chickens will vastly reduce risk of contracting any illness from them. The risk with diseases in hens is no higher than with other pets (such as after cleaning out a cat box). It is much lower than with factory farmed birds, because backyard chickens live happy healthy lives in healthy conditions.

Q: Won’t allowing hens cost the city lots of money?
A: In Longmont, CO, and in Missoula, MT, they were concerned about the same thing, and found allowing hens did not make more work or cost for the city and animal care. There are more complaints about dogs than chickens, even in cities where they are allowed.

Q: What are the benefits of chickens?
A: Composted droppings make incredible garden fertilizer: Reduce/Reuse/Recycle!

Fresh organic eggs are healthier for you and the environment: no fuel used trucking them to stores! Since hens eat a combination of weeds/grass, bugs, and grain-based feed, keeping them yourself reduces the cost of free-range, healthful eggs. Gardens and small flocks of hens help keep food secure by reducing food-borne illness and reducing the risk of tampering.
Chickens are funny, entertaining, and educational, and are easy pets to care for, great for people of all abilities.

For more information, please see www.urbanchickens.net, www.backyardchickens.com, and aurorachickens.blogspot.com.

Concerns about backyard hens?

Urbanchickens.net has some fabulous articles about hen-keeping and common concerns about legalizing backyard flocks. Here's a post about avian flu, and how backyard flocks actually help keep us safe.

Here's a great post about the cost of enforcing chicken ordinances.

I'm working on a fact sheet to answer concerns about backyard chickens. I'll have them at our meeting, Thursday, June 13^th 6-7pm – Please join me and others who are interested in passing a city ordinance allowing chickens in Aurora.  At Crawford Elementary, on Florence between 16^th and 17^th Streets.