Backyard chicken ordinance for Harvard goes back to the drawing board

After six months of meetings hammering out a backyard chicken ordinance, the Harvard City Council has sent the proposal back to committee for more tweaks.

The ordinance put before the council at its Tuesday meeting would have mandated that those who want to keep chickens on their property receive a conditional-use permit in addition to a separate chicken license and annual inspections, among other requirements.

The conditional-use permit – and the entire program – would be reevaluated in two years.

The conditional-use permit requirement was added to the proposed ordinance by the planning and zoning commission at its December meeting.

The cost would prohibit a lot of people from participating in the program.”

—  Dave Helmeid, Harvard resident and backyard chicken advocate

Conditional-use permits cost $900 and would be on top of a $300 license fee, Community Development Director Donovan Day told the council. Chicken licensees also would need to pay an annual $30 inspection fee.

That’s too expensive for what could be a two-year experiment, resident Dave Helmeid told the council. He and his wife, Jessica Helmeid, have been attending the administrative committee meetings as the ordinance was crafted, and they attended the Dec. 5 plan commission meeting during which the ordinance was altered and approved by that board.

“The two-year limit in the conditional use would be an ineffective way to measure success,” Dave Helmeid said. “The cost would prohibit a lot of people from participating in the program.”

The Helmeids live on less than 1 acre, on which the ordinance would allow only four chickens.

Before the council meeting, the Helmeids emailed all of the council members about their concerns with the new ordinance, Jessica Helmeid said. Their alderman, Charles Gorman of the 3rd Ward, brought up those concerns at the council meeting.

The conditional-use permit seemed to be overkill, Gorman said.

“We have an application process plus a yearly inspection,” he said. “If they don’t pass that, they don’t get to have chickens.”

He said he’d rather see a program for which the chicken license is approved through community development, not the plan board and City Council.

One change that was suggested by the council was that chickens could not roam free but would be required to stay in enclosures.

The council voted unanimously to send the ordinance back to the administrative committee for additional tweaks. That committee’s next meeting is Feb. 8.