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Lakewood City Council is discussing extending and expanding a program allowing a limited number of residents to raise backyard hens. (File photo).

Lakewood City Councilman David Anderson and Councilwoman Cindy Marx discuss possible changes to legislation that would extend and expand a pilot program allowing a limited number of residents to raise backyard hens.

LAKEWOOD, Ohio -- City Council is discussing extending and expanding a pilot program that allows a limited number of residents to raise hens in their backyards.



"It's been a wonderful success," Lakewood resident and hen keeper Jan Dregalla said at a council Housing Committee meeting Monday night.



City officials agreed that a pilot program, which was launched last November, has been running pretty much trouble free. During the first 18 months, only 12 families were permitted to raise chickens in their backyards, and only female hens were permitted. After one family moved, only 11 families participated in the program.



A Lakewood animal control officer told the committee he inspected all 11 backyard chicken operations and observed no problems with odors, noise or rodents and only one "minor" problem involving a raccoon predator.



"You guys have really shown us how to do it right," Shannon Strachan, executive assistant to Mayor Mike Summers, said to two residents involved in backyard hen raising.



The pilot program is set to expire in July, and City Council wants to pass a new ordinance to allow backyard hen operations on an ongoing basis before that happens. Some of the issues council is considering is whether to increase the maximum number of hen operations in the city. The city originally planned to allow 10 additional backyard hen operations per year until a maximum of 40 were in place. City Councilwoman Cindy Marx, who is sponsoring the legislation, said she would like to see the maximum number increased to 50.



In addition, Dregalla said she would like to see the maximum height of hen coops increased from 6 feet to 8 feet to make it easier for cleaning. The 6-foot measurement is at the roof peak, meaning sides of the building are considerably lower due to sloped roofs, she said.



Before a household can get a permit to raise hens, it must undergo an approved training program to ensure the participants know how to operate clean, trouble-free hen coops, city officials said.



Council also is considering whether to maintain a requirement that hen coops be located at least 20 feet from the rear of residents' houses. Some residents would like the coops closer.



"Those are things that if they don't change, it's OK," said Ann Stahlheber, another resident involved in the pilot program. "We could live with it."



Stahlheber and Dregalla said their neighbors have been supportive of the hen program and many enjoy visiting the coops and seeing the hens. Children, especially, have been receptive and interested, they said.

Supporters of backyard hen farming formed their own group, Hens in Lakewood, and maintain a Facebook page.



The Housing Committee will discuss the issue further in future committee meetings. before taking an ordinance before the full council to extend the hen program beyond July, committee Chairman David Anderson said.

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