Should the city of Ann Arbor have an ordinance allowing residents to keep ducks in coops in their backyards?

The city already has a backyard chicken ordinance, which the City Council is in the process of revising and expanding, and some argue it makes just as much sense to allow ducks.

"It's not unheard of to have ducks in an urban environment," said City Council Member Chuck Warpehoski, D-5th Ward, noting Portland allows backyard ducks.

"We've got them at West Park. They seem to be good neighbors there," he said. "I've never gotten any complaints from the people of Lurie Terrace or people around West Park to say, 'Hey, can you deal with these ducks? They're too troublesome.' People love them."

Warpehoski informed his council colleagues over the weekend that he was giving consideration to city ordinance changes to allow the keeping of backyard ducks, with the same limits that are placed on keeping backyard chickens.

Warpehoski now has draft ordinance language for backyard ducks that he's planning to bring to council Tuesday night.

He said some residents might choose to keep ducks instead of chickens because they're quieter and have different browsing habits.

"And some people prefer the taste of duck eggs," he said.

From an ecological point of view, Warpehoski said, both ducks and chickens are good natural forms of pest control for gardens.

"The other advantage of it is fertilizer," he said.

The only added challenge with ducks, Warpehoski said, is that they require an occasional bath, so they need somewhere to splash around. He said that could be handled by putting out a kiddie swimming pool for them.

Warpehoski noted he is considering using the Grand Rapids approach to regulating backyard chickens, where the license requester must give notice to neighboring property owners and tenants and give them a window to object. That would be different from Ann Arbor's current process of requiring neighbor consent. Warpehoski said he has draft ordinance language to make that change.

Other changes to the backyard chicken ordinance that were given initial approval earlier this month await final approval Tuesday night.

But if the council decides to make additional changes, such as allowing ducks or switching to the Grand Rapids model, the changes will go back to first reading and final approval won't happen Tuesday night.

Anyone who wants to speak on the matter can do so during a public hearing at the start of the council's meeting Tuesday night. The council meets at 7 p.m. on the second floor of city hall, 301 E. Huron St.

The changes that already received initial approval and now await final approval would create two classifications of permits for backyard chickens.

Warpehoski, who is sponsoring the changes, explained there would be a two-bird permit (good for one year) and a six-bird permit (good for five years).

For five-year permits, Warpehoski said at the last meeting, the ordinance would remain essentially the same as it has since 2008, requiring neighbor permission to keep backyard chickens, but the number of hens allowed would increase from four to six.

For people who aren't able to get neighbor permission, there would be a new option of a permit allowing two hens for a one-year trial period.

But again, some of that could change if the council decides to go with the Grand Rapids model instead.

If the council is amenable to adding ducks to the ordinance, Warpehoski said, it's his expectation the total number of birds would be capped at six under the regular permit, and that could be any combination of ducks and chickens.

Ryan Stanton covers the city beat for The Ann Arbor News. Reach him at ryanstanton@mlive.com or 734-623-2529 or follow him on Twitter.