Proposed ordinance would limit backyard chickens to 10, require permits and ban roosters, board told

At a July 2 workshop the Board of Mayor and Aldermen heard the first reading of Ordinance 2026‑14, which would add a new chapter regulating the keeping of domestic fowl and include a $25 permit fee.

Staff described the proposed rules: a maximum of 10 birds per property, birds must be kept in professionally built coops (not in front yards), roosters would be prohibited and the ordinance would bar slaughtering of domestic fowl on residential property. "That's what's proposed in this in this ordinance. 10. And they have to be in a in a coupe or a a pin, a professionally made pin," a staff member said during the presentation.

Board members asked whether existing owners would be grandfathered. "There's no right to a grandfather chicken," the city attorney, Evan Cope, said in response, indicating current owners would need a permit if the ordinance is approved. The discussion clarified that a permit would be required of people who already have birds once the ordinance is adopted.

Speakers also described enforcement drivers: staff said codes enforcement has received frequent complaints about loose birds and roosters, and that a permit regime would make enforcement clearer. Board members expressed both support and reservation — some praised the clarity it would bring to enforcement while others said they valued the tradition of a night parade and other community traditions (separate agenda items) and wanted to guard established customs in unrelated areas.

The ordinance was introduced for a first reading; no formal vote was taken in the workshop. If the board approves a second reading at a future meeting the permit requirement, operational restrictions and the prohibition on roosters would take effect as written in the ordinance.