Gresham gives fowl the ax

City code won't be changed to allow residents to raise chickens

By Mara Stine

The Gresham Outlook, Oct 20, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (15 Reader comments)

Jim Clark / The Outlook

Chickens like this one have been all but shoved out of Gresham as the City Council votes Tuesday afternoon against changing the code that regulates domestic poultry.

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Gresham city councilors have voted down a proposal to change city code and allow residents to keep backyard chickens as pets.

The city’s 40-year-old code all but bans chickens – or domestic poultry – in residential areas by requiring a 100-foot separation between coops and surrounding homes.

City staff recommended the council establish a smaller setback of 25 feet from adjacent houses and 10 feet from the property line.

Staff also recommended limiting the number of chickens to three, prohibiting roosters, requiring chicken enclosures be used from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. and adopting nuisance clauses related to noise, odor and sanitary conditions.

A Gresham woman with six chickens brought the issue to the City Council’s attention a year ago when her neighbor complained and she was required to move her birds to another neighbor’s property.

This summer, three Gresham families received notices that their chickens violate city code. Code enforcement officers ordered them to get rid of the birds or face a daily fine of $10.

Instead of paying a fine, Teri Biggar’s family moved their three birds to a farm in Boring, but hoped to bring them back if the council approved a code change.

“They’re going to get a bunch of phone calls,” Biggar said Tuesday after the meeting. She had to work and couldn’t attend the 3 p.m. public hearing to testify in favor of the code change.

Last month, residents on both sides of the issue cried fowl during a planning commission meeting that drew more than 50 residents. Nearly half of them testified and were split on the issue.

Chicken supporters cited the trend toward sustainability, urban farming and eating locally produced food as arguments for the code change. Challengers, however, said noisy roosters, smelly waste and ugly coops should stop the council from changing the city’s chicken code.

On Tuesday, local dentist John Kilian and resident Jim Brischle spoke against changing the code. Kilian cited health concerns, while Brischle, who lives next to the chicken-raising family that sparked the issue a year ago, spoke of the livability issues associated with urban poultry. Issues such as a foul odor during hot summer months and hens clucking early in the morning.

One resident submitted a letter for the record stating that changing Gresham’s domestic poultry code was a mistake.

On the pro-chicken side was Gresham Planning Commissioner Ken Stine. He and his brother grew up living in half of a chicken coop.

“I’m a chicken hater,” he said, “but I support the code change.”

He recalled the satisfaction of collecting eggs every morning and having fresh eggs to eat.

Then again, “They’re the stupidest animals in the world, and I can’t imagine why anyone would want one as a pet,” he said. Even so, if people want urban chickens they should be able to raise them, he said.

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