| "backyard chicken coop and run" |
TO TAKE ACTION:
YOU HAVE A 4-MINUTE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK TO THE CITY COUNCIL ABOUT ANY ISSUE YOU CHOOSE, including Animal Husbandry and chickens. SIGN-IN AT THE FRONT DOOR.
Speak at the city council meeting or sit-in on December 6th, Tuesday evening, 7:30pm. City Hall (next to the library) Read More >>
TO STAY INFORMED:
Attend the Council Meeting on Tuesday, December 6th, 7:30pm. City Hall (next to the Redmond library)
Watch the proceedings on RCTV (Comcast 21/Frontier 34) LIVE and On-Demand
-RCTV Live at http://www.redmond.gov/Government/Communications/RCTV/ 7:30 PM, Tuesday, Dec. 6
-RCTV On-Demand at http://www.redmond.gov/government/communications/rctv/ondemandprogramming/
You can find the Council’s meeting agenda here: consent agenda/ordinances for December 6th - available online on Friday, December 2nd. It includes the updated policies and codes (click: Agenda "date")
>> Allowing a maximum of 10 chickens in UR, RA-5, R-1, and R-2 zones (as allowed in today’s Municipal Code) [Editor's Note: I don't know what "UR" or "RA - 5" means. R-1 is one housing unit/acre]
>> Not allowing chickens in R-8 zones due to that zone’s allowed density, lot coverage, and lot size
>> Requiring a mandatory, no-fee registration in advance of housing chickens
>> Comprehensive Plan Update information, including Animal Husbandry topics, public comment, and more (scroll down!).
Please contact city planner, Kim Dietz, kdietz@redmond.gov with questions, for directions and additional information, and to follow up regarding the City Council’s December 6th vote. Or write your comment below this post and I will send it to the city council and mayor.
Kimberly S. Dietz, Senior Planner, City of Redmond
Neighborhoods and Historic Preservation
(425) 556-2415
Good Day, Mr. Wilcox,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your thoughts regarding chicken husbandry and the East Firs covenants. As you note, some neighborhoods may have covenants that prohibit raising chickens.
To help community members understand that their engagement in chicken husbandry activities must also comply with restrictions enforceable by their respective Home Owner Association, we will include a clause on the registration form notifying the applicant of such. While the City does not enforce covenants and nor would it deny a registration based on a covenant, including this information on the registration form would be a reminder that property owners need to comply with covenants. We will also look for other opportunities to distribute this reminder; for example, we can include it as part of information we provide to the media and on the City’s web site.
Looking at your email, I see that you have a number of concerns about the potential impacts of the proposed code change. Those concerns were among the ones that Planning Commission and Council considered when they reviewed this proposed code change and were part of the reason for requiring a mandatory registration process. While codes, processes, and community interest varies from place to place, I have found when looking at experiences in other communities a very small amount of significant code enforcement issues. Of particular note were Salem and Gresham. Salem experienced one issue since amending their code and has issued 53 chicken husbandry licenses over a population of 147,000 residents. Gresham has not experienced any major code enforcement issues after amending their code in February 2010. They have 40 licenses in place over a population of 105,600 residents.
If you have additional questions or concerns, am happy to talk further. If you wish, please schedule a time for us to meet to discuss chicken husbandry.
Best regards,
Kim
Kimberly S. Dietz
Senior Planner, Neighborhoods and Historic Preservation
Planning Department, City of Redmond
15670 NE 85th Street, MS: 4SPL
Redmond, WA 98073-9710
(425) 556-2415 (tele)
Why no fee for the license to house chickens? Not even a small fee to cover the cost of issuing the license? That doesn't make sense.
ReplyDeleteI don't think they want to deter anyone from registering. Removing trees from a SFH lot requires a permit and they don't even charge for that. The way I look at it, no matter how small the cost, my taxes are high enough.
ReplyDelete