Mayor Vetos Chicken Ordinance

The backyard chicken ordinance approved by the City Council last week got sent to the slaughterhouse by Cranston Mayor Allan W. Fung today due to for city departments and real estate values.

Fung exercised his veto power and struck down the ordinance based on a number of concerns, some which the mayor said were expressed to his administration by "numerous residents."

In terms of rats, the mayor said the city has "spent a great amount of resources" battling the rat problem and it remains a concern "with respect to the health and well being of our residents."

While there "has not been any research which can definitively link the ownership of chickens to a great risk of rats or other rodents," Fung, in his veto letter, said chickens need to be fed and that means there would be new food sources that will attract rats as well as chicken excrement.

"We see that on a daily basis with people leaving food outside or not picking up their animal's waste," Fung wrote. "I am not sure expanding to allow the ownership of chickens, while for noble purposes such as personal food consumption of the eggs, is a good policy idea at this time given the potential that any irresponsible owners may contribute to the existing rodent problem."

Fung also said he's worried about burdening the animal control division of the city as well as the building inspections department. 

"Many city departments, including the above mentioned, are understaffed and have taken on more work with limited resources," Fung said.

Lastly, Fung said he "must also consider the potential on home values and sales in the city." 

He said he doesn't have enough data to know if there could be an impact on home values, but "it could become an issue where a neighbor may have a more difficult time selling their home because people may not want to purchase a property where there are chickens being raised next door."

Fung acknowledged that he was speculating, but "it is a concern that I have to worry about for all of our neighbors."

There's a possibility that Fung would change his mind depending on the experiences and data from other cities and towns that have enacted similar ordinances. Both Providence and Warwick have backyard chicken ordinances.

"But at this time, I do have concerns for enacting it on such a broad basis across the city given the issues cited above."

Proponents of the backyard chicken ordinance addressed most of the concerns raised at last week's City Council meeting. They said the up-front cost of setting up a chicken coop and raising hens deters lazy owners who'd fail to secure chicken feed or maintain their coops properly.

"I have met a lot of Backyard Chicken keepers over the past several years. Many were in cities much larger than Cranston. Owners of Micro-flocks don't allow their property to look or smell like farmyards!" said Wendy Milne on our Facebook page. "Property values do not go down. If anything, they go up! Remember, they may want to sell their home someday, too! Chicken keeping is the hobby of the environmentally friendly gardener and all those who want good, fresh and healthy eggs for their families. Chicken owners keep their yards clean and tend to have beautiful gardens. They consider their Chickens part of a fulfilling gardening hobby."