Published: June 05, 2009 10:55 pm      

Chickens coming home to roost in TC?

TRAVERSE CITY -- Chickens are rare as hens' teeth in Traverse City, but that could change.

City workers are scratching out guidelines to allow residents to raise chickens, rules modeled after ordinances adopted in communities across the country, including Ann Arbor. The concept is part of a growing urban farming trend and local food movement across the United States.

The Traverse City Planning Commission likely will peck over the local proposal in July.

"We can certainly look at other communities that have investigated this issue," said Russell Soyring, city planning director. "We want to make sure we explore all the issues related to this."

City Attorney Karrie Zeits researched and discovered the Michigan Right to Farm Act prohibits cities from banning commercial farming, including raising chickens, she said.

A city resident need only sell one egg to qualify as commercial, Zeits said.

"We will need to establish standards," said R. Ben Bifoss, city manager. "You can regulate the use."

Examples of possible rules include not allowing roosters because of noise concerns, limiting the number of chickens and establishing space and housing standards.

A half-dozen city residents spoke in favor of urban chicken coops at a recent planning commission meeting and commission members asked city workers to prepare language for them to consider.

Among the speakers was Kimberly Dante, who lives on 12th Street.

"I would like to have a few chickens in my backyard and I want them for eggs, pest control and for fertilizer," she said.

It was Dante who first clucked to city officials, and asked them to change rules that currently ban chickens and other fowl.

Sarna Salzman, executive director of local nonprofit SEEDS, also spoke to commissioners about the benefits of small-scale urban farming, such as raising chickens for eggs. It's both environmentally friendly and healthy, she said.

"In encouraging people to raise their own food, chickens are a really good way to do that," Salzman said. "It allows you to be self-reliant. It's part of the local food movement, for sure."

City officials also may require city chicken ranchers to complete a training workshop, something both SEEDS and Michigan Land Use Institute officials said they would provide.

Regardless of touted ecological and health benefits, some city residents are expected to fight the proposal.

"As things tend to go in Traverse City, we'll have a real healthy debate on this," Soyring said.