BARRHEAD - A County of Barrhead woman's attempt to get the municipality to amend its Animal Control Bylaw to allow the keeping of chickens on residential properties seems to have failed.
At their Jan. 7 meeting, county manager Debbie Oyarzun informed councillors that Agatha Neufeld's petition to allow chickens, specifically hens, properties two acres or smaller did not meet the standard of an official petition.
As a result, council opted to approve the petition as correspondence for information.
Neufeld submitted the petition on Dec. 9 with 117 signatures, of which 105 were eligible.
The MGA requires that a petition be signed by at least 10 per cent of the municipality's population for it to be valid. In this case, Oyarzun noted that the petition needed to collect 587 signatures within 60 days.
To be an eligible petitioner, they needed to be at least 18 years old whose primary residence is in the County of Barrhead.
Oyarzun noted that each petitioner's signature must be witnessed, and the witness must provide an affidavit stating they saw the signatures and that, to the best of their knowledge, the individuals are eligible to be petitioners.
Under the bylaw, which council passed unanimously on July 13, property owners in a non-agricultural district with a lot size of two acres or greater can keep up to 10 chickens. It should be noted that the bylaw does not impact residents of an agricultural district where the number of chickens a resident can have is not limited.
This is an increase from what was previously allowed under the land-use bylaw, which only permitted chickens in agricultural districts regardless of property size.
"I think there is some confusion about this in the public," she said, reiterating that under the previous land-use bylaw, the keeping of chickens was allowed, and there were no restrictions on the number of birds.
Although council unanimously approved the Animal Control Bylaw in July, councillors have debated potentially amending the document to allow chickens in non-agricultural districts.
In August, at a committee of the whole (COW) meeting and in the Sept. 17 council meeting, council discussed the possibility after receiving a written request from Neufeld.
She wrote the letter to council after she was approached by the county's community peace officer. The municipality received a complaint from an area resident stating Neufeld violated the Animal Control Bylaw. Since Neufeld's letter, the county has received about a dozen other letters and e-mails in favour of keeping the bylaw as is and asking them to amend it to allow for chickens on smaller non-ag district properties.
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At the COW meeting, councillors narrowly voted 4-3 to maintain the status quo. At the Sept. 17 council meeting, a motion by Coun. Walter Preugschas to allow residents to keep chickens on properties in non-ag districts was defeated by a 3-3 vote. Councillors Preugschas, Bill Lane, and Paul Properzi voted in favour, while reeve Doug Drozd and councillors Jared Stoik and Ron Klienfeldt opposed. Absent was deputy reeve Marvin Schatz. While those who were in favour and opposed to a similar motion at the COW meeting are unknown, councillors at the Sept. 17 meeting stated that the vote mainly broke the same way.
"We've discussed this before, and we all know where we stand on this," Preugschas said at the Jan. 7 meeting. "But if you look at Pillar 3 [of the Municipality's 2022-2026 Strategic Plan] that states 'the county maintains its rural character and is recognized as a desirable location to work, live and play,' I believe [not allowing chickens in non-agricultural districts on properties under two acres] makes [the county] non-welcoming to those who want to have chickens."
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
