When Eric Desjardin approached the Maumelle City Council about allowing residents to raise chickens within the city, he didn't expect such an uphill battle, he said last week.
The Maumelle City Council will take up the issue again at its 6 p.m. meeting Monday at City Hall, but it isn't likely to call a vote until its June 1 meeting.
Amendments to the proposed ordinance at the previous council meeting will keep the legislation on a second reading, City Attorney Caleb Norris said. Three readings are required, usually at three meetings, before a vote can be called.
Monday will be the fourth meeting to have discussion about chickens, the third with legislation proposed.
Urban chickens have grown in popularity nationally, with their owners getting a small-farm experience and fresh eggs. Reasons for opposing chickens next door often include noise, odor and health concerns.
"When it comes to chickens, there's a lot you can actually get from doing it," Desjardin said.
"You can teach your kids how to produce their own food, just like you can with a garden. It can have an educational purpose. Obviously, getting fresh eggs in your backyard is a little bit different than what you get at a store. You know what you're putting into the chicken."
Hopeful for change when he first presented the request for urban chickens April 6, Desjardin said he's not as confident after aldermen have heard the debate in two other meetings since then.
"Some residents are very opinionated and very vocal," he said. "This is a very logical issue to me, not an emotional issue."
Aldermen have been wary of opening up city neighborhoods to clucking chickens. Amendments approved at the council's meeting two weeks ago would make the transition more gradual and would limit the number of chickens, if the ordinance is approved. Permits and a $20 fee -- up from an original $10 recommendation -- also would be required.
"The big change was there will now be a maximum number of new permits to be issued," Norris said. "So in the first year, there would be 25 permits maximum that could be issued. Then in subsequent years, there could be up to 50 permits outstanding at a time."
Mayor Mike Watson said that while a "pretty even" number of residents have spoken for and against the ordinance at previous meetings, correspondence he's received is more one-sided.
"I would say the majority of those are against it," Watson said.
Neighboring North Little Rock allows chickens if kept 75 feet from the nearest neighboring structure. An attempt to reduce the distance to 50 feet late last year failed when a vote by the City Council deadlocked at 4-4.
Desjardin said he sees support waning among Maumelle's aldermen the longer the debate goes.
"Some aldermen have said that there are bigger issues to deal with," he said. "They want to put it behind them and move on to other agenda issues."
Current city regulations allow a household to have one chicken or other farm animal for up to 90 days, with city Animal Control notification, Norris said. Even a rooster is OK, which the new ordinance wouldn't allow.
"This is including, but not limited to, pigs, chickens, goats and sheep," Norris said. "Only for 90 days time, and it has to be in an adequate space as far as possible from a neighboring home."
The rule enacted years ago was to allow for a school 4-H project or other special project, Watson theorized.
"I think it was put in to allow for kids who wanted to show an animal at a county fair or the State Fair," Watson said. "I think that's why. That was before my time [as mayor], so I'm not privy to the history on that."
Metro on 05/17/2015