Good News! Backyard Hens Legalized in Longmont!

Last night the Longmont City Council voted to continue to allow residents to own up to 4 backyard hens and to lift the restriction on the number of permits allowed in the city. Hooray! The vote was 5-2 with only Mayor Baum and Gabe Santos voting against it.

Thank you to everyone who helped make this a reality!

If you don't have a permit yet, you may apply for one after Jan. 24, 2011, at the City of Longmont, Planning and Development office, located at 385 Kimbark St. The cost for the permit is $30. In addition to completing the permit application, you must also provide a plot/sketch plan of your property with setback dimension lines and coop size and location. There are restrictions with regard to the coop size and location and setbacks, so please read the new ordinance (which should be posted on Jan. 14) before applying.

Yay chickens! :)

City council voting on backyard hens TONIGHT Jan. 11

I seem to have had the date wrong in my previous post. Apparently the 2nd reading of the backyard hen ordinance is tonight, Tuesday, Jan. 11 at 7 p.m. at the City Council Chambers,
Civic Center, 350 Kimbark St., Longmont. So sorry for the late notice.

Please attend, sign up to speak during the public invited to be heard section and say that you support backyard chickens. Thank you!!

If you can't make it, please send the city council members an email letting them know you support backyard hens in Longmont.

The current City Council includes: Mayor Bryan Baum, Gabe Santos, Brian Hansen, Katie Witt, Sean McCoy, Sarah Levison, and Alex Sammory.
Email addresses: bryan.baum@ci.longmont.co.us, gabe.santos@ci.longmont.co.us, brian.hansen@ci.longmont.co.us, Katie.witt@ci.longmont.co.us, sean.mccoy@ci.longmont.co.us, Sarah.levison@ci.longmont.co.us, alex.sammoury@ci.longmont.co.us

More chicken permits soon to be available

Last night the Longmont City Council approved the amendment to the backyard chicken ordinance. According to the amendment permits will soon be available for residents who requested to be on the waiting list between the dates of March 24 and May 5. There are 22 of them.

There are an additional eight people who've called asking to be added to the waiting list since May 5, but they aren't eligible to get a permit. The eight individuals on the new waiting list will have to wait until a permit is surrendered or revoked before they will be eligible for one.

In addition, anyone who had chickens prior to Feb. 1, 2009, and can prove it will be eligible to
get a permit. They will be required to provide a written letter from a next door neighbor attesting to their chicken keeping and pictures of their coop and chickens. This group would be required to bring their chicken keeping operation up to the existing code requirements just like everyone else.

The amended ordinance will go to publishing on Friday, and the new permits should be available for purchase 10 days after that which should be June 22.

Council members voting in favor of the amendment were Karen Benker, Brian Hansen, Sean McCoy and Sarah Levison. Voting against it were Mayor Lange, Gabe Santos, and Mary Blue.

For information on obtaining a permit (what to bring and where to go), please see this post.

City Council to vote on amending chicken ordinance June 9

The Longmont City Council will vote on amending the backyard chicken ordinance at the meeting on Tuesday, June 9. The vote could increase the number of permits allowed in the city (currently only 50) and allow residents who own backyard chickens but don’t have the required permit to keep their hens, as well as allow residents who are on the permit waiting list to apply for a permit.

On May 26, council voted 5-2 in favor of amending the ordinance to allow more permits. The second reading and vote are scheduled for tonight. For more information about the last city council meeting and vote re: the chickens, please read the Times-Call article Longmont chicken owners without permits have time to comply.

If you are in favor of backyard hens, please attend tomorrow night's city council meeting and sign up to speak during the Public Invited to be Heard section (at the very beginning). Thank you for your continued support.

Location of Meeting:

CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS
June 9, 2009 - 7 p.m.
Civic Center
350 Kimbark St.
Longmont, CO

Longmont may allow existing chickens to be grandfathered in

The results of Tuesday's city council meeting were covered in the Times-Call article Chicken Amnesty.

City officials might give sanctuary to illegal chickens.

Councilwoman Karen Benker suggested at the end of the Longmont City Council meeting Tuesday night that the city change its new chicken ordinance to allow residents who have been keeping hens illegally — but who could not get their hands on one of the 50 chicken permits the city issued — to keep those hens legally if residents can prove they’ve had them for a while.

Read the complete article here.

Longmont chickens on NBC Nightly News

May 4, 2009: More suburbanites across the country are raising chickens. It goes beyond a passion for poultry, some are motivated by the taste of farm fresh eggs, others by a desire to try something new. NBC's Jack Chesnutt reports.

Chickens roost in backyards

Longmont chicken permits sold out - waiting list started

On Monday, March 23, the city of Longmont issued the last of the 50 permits that allow residents to keep up to four backyard hens. At this time, no more permits are available.

They have, however, started a waiting list of sorts. If anyone who received a permits decides they'd rather not get chickens after all (or if they get them and then decide to get rid of them), they can turn their permit back into the city and the city can reissue it to a person on the waiting list. As of today, March 27, there are four people on the waiting list. So if you do find yourself with a permit and no desire to get or keep chickens after all, please turn your permit back in so that a resident who really wants them can obtain them legally. To be put on the wait list for a chicken permit, please contact Ben Ortiz at the Planning and Development Services Division, 385 Kimbark St. The phone number is 303-774-4725.

Thank you. :)

In the news again:
Longmont's chickens were in the Denver Post last week: More cities welcome chickens

The new Longmont backyard hen ordinance and getting a permit

As of Feb. 24, the City of Longmont has passed an ordinance (read details of the ordinance here) that allows a small number of city residents to keep up to 4 hens (no roosters) in a backyard chicken coop provided that the coop/yard meets certain requirements. There will be 50 permits available for issue for a cost of $30. Residents must fill out a simple form and supply some information when applying for their permit.

Obtaining a permit:
Permits will be available to the Longmont community beginning Monday, March 9, 2009, and every work day thereafter until the permits run out. Individuals that want a permit must come to the Development Services Center located at 385 Kimbark St., which is located across the street from the library. The doors to the offices front onto Kimbark and are open at 8 a.m.

Prospective chicken owners will need to fill out a simple form which includes the requirements within the ordinance. The permits are $30 (cash or check made payable to the City of Longmont). They don't accept credit cards, so please be sure to have your cash/checks in hand when you come in. The form will ask if you are using a coop that was in existence prior to February 1, 2009 and whether said coop is closer than six feet to any side or rear property line. If it is closer than six feet, the coop owner will need to get written permission from the adjacent property owner. If you fit that description, please make sure you have their letters in hand too. If the pre-existing coop is not closer than six feet, then you won't need a letter. If a pre-existing coop is closer than six feet and there is no adjacent property owner, then you don't need written permission.

For any and all coops (whether they're pre-existing or not), please provide a plot plan, sketch plan, aerial photo, e.g. Google map of the property showing dimension lines from the side/rear property lines and any structure as well as the placement of the coop. If you are going to be using a tractor, just show the larger area where the tractor will be contained in. The sketch plans/Google map don't have to be too fancy. They just want a general idea as to where you're planning on putting the coop and the coop's size.

Additional information:
While the following recommendation isn't included in the ordinance, it has been suggested (by city staff) that we work within our group to self-police as much as possible to avoid raising any red flags during the trial period.

According to city staff, Murdoch's sells sexed chicks, so please take advantage of this or other distributors that sell sexed chicks and do your best to avoid roosters as much as possible.

Also, if anyone in our group has buyer's remorse afterward or accidentally gets a rooster, we've been encouraged to work amongst ourselves to adopt out the birds or, in the worst case scenario, take them to one of the two raptor rehabilitation centers in the area (Fort Collins & Broomfield). It is important to get rid of roosters immediately once they start crowing if it turns out you get one accidentally.

Thank you for your support and congratulations to all. Keep on clucking. :)

First reading of the ordinance - Feb. 10

The first reading of the proposed backyard hen ordinance will take place at the City Council meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 10, in the City Council Chambers, located in the Civic Center at 350 Kimbark St. At this meeting the council will vote to go forward with the ordinance (which would lead to the second reading and vote on Feb. 24) or to kill the ordinance.

All chicken supporters are encouraged to attend this meeting and sign up during the public invited to be heard segment to say "I support the backyard hen ordinance." Thank you for your support!

Also, Longmont and chickens are in the news again. On KUNC today was Longmont considers urban hen ordinance. Take a listen.

Upcoming backyard chicken workshops in Ft. Collins

I received this information from a few chicken folks up in Fort Collins and wanted to pass it along here in case anyone in Longmont (or elsewhere in Colorado) is interested.

The Rocky Mountain Sustainable Living Association is holding Backyard Chicken workshops scheduled throughout the year.

See their website for details:
http://www.sustainablelivingassociation.org/backyard-chickens/

Here is the workshop schedule:
- Intro to Poultry - Sun. Feb 22, 12 pm to 4 pm
- Poultry Facilities - Sun. March 15, 9 am to 5 pm
- Intro to Poultry - Sat. April 11, 9 am to 1 pm
- Poultry Facilities - Sun. May 10, 9 am to 5 pm
- Advanced Poultry - Thurs. June 11, 6 pm to 9 pm

In addition, Northern Colorado Feeders' Supply will be holding a COW (Chicken Owners' Workshop) on Friday, March 20th. Details will be posted on the Fort Collins chicken blog when they become available (http://fortcollins-urbanhens.blogspot.com).

Mark your calendar for Jan. 20

The proposed backyard hen ordinance will be discussed in detail at the city council study session at 7 p.m. this Tuesday, Jan. 20, in the City Council Chambers, located in the Civic Center at 350 Kimbark St., Longmont. Ben Ortiz, the city planner who has been in charge of all of the research regarding the proposed ordinance, will be in attendance. All chicken supporters are very much encouraged to attend, as well as sign up to speak in support of the ordinance. Your statement when you speak can be as short and sweet as, "I support the ordinance," or, directed to the city council, "Please support this ordinance."

Thank you all for your continued support! Hope to see you at the study session. :)

Sign the chicken petition outside of Vitamin Cottage Jan. 10 & 11

Longmont Urban Hen Coalition members will be standing in front of Vitamin Cottage (1739 Main St., Longmont) collecting signatures on the backyard hen petition this Saturday, Jan. 10 (from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and Sunday, Jan. 11 (from 3 to 5 p.m.).

The petition will be presented to City Council at the Jan. 20th study session.

Please stop by, sign the petition and show your support for urban chickens. :)

If you can't sign the petition in person, there is an online version of the petition available as well. Please sign only if you are a resident of Longmont and have not signed the paper petition, and include your street address in the comments.

Update on Jan. 6 City Council Open Forum

Dr. Mikki Hand attended the city council open forum last night, representing the Longmont Urban Hen Coalition. Dr. Hand presented her case and asked city council to vote in favor of the ordinance to allow backyard hens in Longmont.

Her comments were well-received by the city council.

Brian Hansen said, "I want to thank you very much for all of your input on this matter. I think there's been a lot of fear of the backyard hens and I think as much information as we can get out there as we can is very helpful. And so I really do appreciate how much you've come forward and told us a lot of the details people haven't thought about."

Gabe Santos brought up the idea of having a community chicken coop at Sandstone Ranch, etc. He also pointed out that this ordinance is not a "slam dunk" and that this will take time to please people on both sides of the issue.

Sarah Levison asked for the copy of the USA Today article (where Longmont is mentioned) and for a copy of The Natural History of the Chicken that was on PBS the other night (it can be viewed on YouTube in six parts). She also said, "One of the things that's really surprised most of us is primarily the issue seems to be highlighting the fact that we are woefully inefficient and insufficient in our code enforcement issues totally in this city. ... It's pretty much common knowledge we don't have enough code enforcement officers in the city. To me that's one of the fundamental issues that's been brought up because of the backyard hen issue so i think that's a discussion of priorties in the community that we need to have as part of this ordinance as well."

Mary Blue, the only council member who attended our Eggs on the Table meeting a few weeks ago, and had been on the fence or even opposed to the ordinance, said about the meeting, "It was a very interesting program. ... I'm glad I went. I went to learn. I thought the presentations were very thoughtful. They were high quality, intellectual comments. Particularly the child from Lyons that could name all of these chickens by name that their family owns. It was most interesting." She also added, "I'm slowly being swayed."

What's next?
The proposed backyard hen ordinance will be discussed in more detail at the city council study session at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20, in the City Council Chambers, located in the Civic Center at 350 Kimbark St., Longmont. Ben Ortiz, the city planner who has been in charge of all of the research regarding the proposed ordinance, will be in attendance. All chicken supporters are very much encouraged to attend this meeting.

Longmont is in the news again - this time USA Today

From the USA Today article:

Longmont, Colo., city planner Ben Ortiz says elected officials in his city of about 85,000 near Fort Collins are considering whether to let residents raise chickens. Ortiz says many residents have cited financial sustainability as a major reason. "There may be some pent-up demand for this kind of thing," he says.

Read the rest here: Chickens given roosts in urban backyards

Eggs on the Table - pictures from the presentation and an update

On Thursday, Dec. 20, a small group of chicken supporters held a public informational meeting called "Eggs on the Table: Longmont and Urban Hens" at the Longmont Public Library. We had a decent turnout, including one member of city council (Mary Blue) in attendance. All city council members were invited.

In addition to the presentation and some question and answer, we had the backyard chicken petition available for signatures. If you are a Longmont resident who has been unable to sign the paper petition and are in favor of allowing up to 6 backyard hens (no roosters) in Longmont, you can sign the online petition. Please be sure to include your address in the comments.

Here are a few pictures from the presentation:

Alison talks about sustainability.

An explanation of why backyard hens are sustainable.

An explanation of why Longmont needs an ordinance allowing backyard hens.
Chris discusses different breeds of chickens and chicken coops.

Dr. Mikki Hand talks about the myths and concerns versus the facts regarding backyard hens.

Alison shows the difference in egg yolks (size and color) between:
top picture - a cage-free organic egg from Organic Valley (purchased from the grocery store) on the left and an almost urban egg from Ollin Farm (a local organic farm) on the right and
bottom picture: Ollin Farm eggs on the left and Organic Valley eggs on the right.

Some of the chicken pictures the kids in attendance of the presentation colored.

Lastly, Lilla, age 7, (of Lyons) talks about her chickens while her father looks on.

UPDATE: At this time, city council is set to discuss more about the ordinance at the Jan. 20th study session, which the public may attend. Also, there will be an open forum at city council on Jan. 6th during which residents may sign up to speak on any topic for a 5-minute period. You just need to sign up to speak.
If you'd like to read more about the presentation, please see the Times-Call article about it: Chicken fans praise backyard birds as useful, fun.
If you'd like to get involved in the chicken crusade, please join the Yahoo Group and/or consider sending an email in support of the ordinance to city council.
Thank you.