EGGCITEMENT AS CHICKEN BAN GETS FRIED
The urban cluckfare is over.
Chickens are now legal in Platte City.
At an April 28 meeting, the Platte City Board of Aldermen unanimously approved a municipal code establishing regulations for the keeping of chickens in the city. The passage seemingly puts an end to a topic that has been under consideration at the city for nearly a year.
The city hatched a poultry policy that allows up to 16 hens on property in single family residential districts. According to the ordinance, “the hens must be kept in a humane condition and provided a covered coop.”
Adopted regulations state chicken feed and any items used for the keeping of the hens must be kept in a clean and sanitary condition to prevent the infestation of rats, mice and other rodents.
Adoption of the ordinance came at the first official meeting for new Mayor Amber Brune, who defeated incumbent Steve Hoeger at the April 7 election.
While hens are legal, roosters–known for their noisy reputation–are not.
“Roosters are prohibited,” the city’s ordinance says succinctly.
Previously in Platte City, chickens were effectively banned under zoning rules that required a two-acre minimum lot size, a condition met by only three parcels in the city. Those rules in effect created a ban on chickens within the city limits.
That language had been in place since 2004, but enforcement has historically been lax until last year’s spring code enforcement sweep revealed more widespread chicken keeping than city officials previously realized.
Rather than imposing fines, aldermen decided upon a series of enforcement moratoriums beginning in May of last year.
City officials say moving oversight of chicken regulations out of zoning and into general city ordinances will make the rules easier to understand and adjust based on community feedback.
Under the ordinance passed April 28, the keeping of other kinds of fowl is prohibited with the following exceptions:
- Properties zoned agricultural or otherwise designated by the city as agricultural or mixed use where livestock and fowl are permitted by ordinance.
- Educational, public or civic properties where the temporary keeping of fowl is authorized by permit for instructional or exhibition purposes.
- The keeping of ornamental birds (such as parrots, canaries or similar species) kept indoors as household pets.
