Our laws change over time to reflect the wishes of Denver residents. The
belief held by many on City Council (the elected representative who make our
laws) is that there "really isn't a lot of support" for changing our laws to
allow food-producing animals in the city. Let's show them that
they're wrong! We need to demonstrate that there is a significant amount of
support for city chickens, goats, and other food-producing animals. Our City
Councilmembers are elected to their jobs, and they want to keep their
constituents happy.
There are 12 Denver
City Councilmembers. Ten represent districts of the city, and two are
AT-LARGE which means they represent the entire city. These people need
to hear from you! Send your representative and the two AT-LARGE
representatives a letter, an email or call them. If possible, give them
your address so that they know you are really in their district. Get other chicken/goat/duck supporters
to contact them. If you are going to an event that one of them attends,
express your feelings to them. If enough people do this, we can change this
law.
How to find
your City Council representative? Easy. Go to
www.denvergov.org and in the lower left corner is a box entitled “DENVER
MAPS. LOCATE IT. Find city services near your home or office.”
Just type in
your address, scroll half-way down to “Council District” and get the contact
info for your councilmember. And to find the two AT-LARGE councilmembers go
here and scroll to the bottom:
http://denvergov.org/CityCouncil/ContactCouncilmembers/tabid/434233/Default.aspx
If you really want to become engaged,
arrange for a meeting with your councilmember and ask us to join you!
For an example of a great letter, here is one written by Steven Pilon to his
councilwoman, Judy Montero:
Judy
Montero
June 10, 2009
Denver City Council –
District 9
3457 Ringsby Ct, suite 215
Denver, CO 80216
Dear Councilwoman Montero:
I am writing to you to ask
you to support a change in the Denver code that will allow Denver residents
the right to have and maintain chickens on their private property.
I am not asking you to
support this change for my benefit (I am already permitted) but for the many
others I know in my own neighborhood who would love to have some laying hens
but who do not want to try and navigate Denver’s permitting process – a
process that is anything but easy and cheap. For instance, consider my
experience.
Last year I decided that
good, healthy eggs and commercial factory production do not always go
hand-in-hand. As a result I decided I wanted to raise some cage-free hens
for the good eggs I knew they could produce.
To get the job done I
researched Denver’s code on municode.com. Once I knew what the code
was I went to the Webb Building and spoke to someone in Neighborhood
Services. She told me they knew nothing about chicken permits and that I
would have to go to Zoning.
I went to Zoning and the
first person I spoke with told me that if I wanted chickens I should move to
Fort Collins. He then told me to go across the hall to talk to the zoning
people over there. I did as he said and spoke to another Zoning employee.
He told me that he did not
think Denver allowed chickens. I showed him the code and he asked another
fellow working at another part of the counter what he knew about chicken
permits. That employee said, ‘you can’t have chickens in Denver’. The clerk
I was working with shot back with, ‘oh yes you can, its right here in the
code.’
He then had me fill out an
administrative review form and sent me to the cashier. I paid the $150.00 (I
believe) and took the receipt back to him. He then sent me to Environmental
Health to find out what their requirements were.
Environmental Health told
me they had no requirements but perhaps Animal Control did. I went back to
Zoning and told the clerk everything I was told. I was then given a pink
sign to put on my front yard and told to call Animal Control.
I went home, put the sign
on my yard, and called Animal Control. I explained to the person I spoke
with what I was doing, what I had already done, and asked what they needed
to do. I was given a case number and told someone would contact me within
twenty-four hours.
After twenty-four hours had
come and gone I called Animal Control again, spoke to a different person,
and was told they would do nothing until I had sent a written request to
their Manager requesting his permission to have chickens. I sent the letter
the following day.
After 30-days (I believe)
Zoning called and said my request had been approved. I returned to Zoning
and was given some paperwork (use permit) to take to the Clerk Recorder’s
office for filing. I went there and paid an additional fee for the
recording. I then returned to Zoning with the receipt and was given a green
sign to put on my lawn for two weeks. A representative from Animal Control
showed up a few days later to inspect my chicken coop.
While I ultimately received
what I was looking for, and while most of the City employees I dealt with
were polite and as helpful as they could be, it was apparent that we were
all travelling unknown territory together.
I believe the code needs to
be changed because not only is it cumbersome and expensive, but it is also
unfair. In Denver a resident does not need to seek the City’s or their
neighbor’s permission to have up to three dogs and/or five cats. When many
of them go to work their dogs are put outside and they bark on and off all
day long and their cats roam their neighbor’s yards.
Some are good about
cleaning their yards and others are not. In my own neighborhood sometimes
you can smell the rich aroma of dog poop coming from a yard that gets
cleaned only occasionally. Often you get to clean up your neighbor’s dog
droppings from your front yard where they have been allowed to go.
As far as cats are
concerned I have trapped and taken, within the last couple of months, eight
large, mean feral cats to the Denver Municipal Shelter. Why, because, my old
17-year old cat is on a leash in our yard and I don’t want her hurt. Often
we get treated to a good cat fight late at night. These feral cats were
ultimately the result of someone not spaying or neutering their domestic
cat(s).
Now, if Denver residents
can impact the lives of all their neighbors by owning up to three dogs and
five cats, without asking permission, why should others have to endure an
expensive and time-consuming permitting process, where your neighbors can
veto your request, when laying hens make virtually no noise, consume a lot
of bugs, and provide something beneficial besides noise and poop?
As indicated before I have
at least two neighbors who would like to own a few laying hens but who do
not want to go through the permitting process. At the same time five of my
closest neighbors would like eggs from my chickens and are always asking to
come over and see them; indicating that many Denver residents are not
anti-chickens.
I think that you will find
that if the City Council votes to amend the code to allow residents the
right to have a maximum of eight hens (that’s what you need for egg sharing)
without having to go through a permitting process, you’ll find that you’ll
have the same result as when you allowed Denver residents to have up to two
honey bee hives on the last 1/3rd of their property.
Have you had any major
complaints? To the best of my knowledge there has been no uproar. As a
matter of fact I took advantage of the change in the code (I eat honey every
day @ breakfast) and have one honey bee hive.
I can tell you that I have
never been stung, they have never bothered any of my neighbors, and most of
my neighbors have asked for honey when it becomes available (around August),
or for tours of the hive.
Now, while I would like you
to support a change in the Denver Code for the sake of all Denver residents
I believe there are several other reasons why you should consider a code
change.
1. 90% of
the chickens sold commercially are factory-raised cross varieties. For
instance, the chicken you buy in the store is predominantly a
Cornish-Plymouth Rock cross. It has been genetically modified to use less
food and to put on enough weight to be slaughtered in 8 weeks. Many of them
grow so fast they lay in their own waste because their legs will not support
them. If they are kept beyond one year they often die of heart failure
because their hearts cannot keep up with the rapid body changes taking
place. It has been stated that “if a human baby
grew as quickly as a five-week factory fryer, he would weigh 349 pounds by
age 2, a University of Arkansas study found.” (Tracy Cone, AP)
2. Nearly
100% of the eggs purchased in the store come from White Leghorns. These
chickens are kept in 12’ x 12” cages and fed only a factory ration with just
the right amount of nutrients to produce eggs. They are given no greens, no
access to grass, pasture, etc, and are not able to socialize with other
chickens. As a result of these things factory egg layers produce eggs that
are higher in cholesterol, higher in saturated fats, lower in vitamin A,
lower in vitamin E, lower in omega-3 fatty acids, and lower in beta
carotene.
3. Should
a terrible disease strike America’s chicken population it would destroy it
in short order because there is no genetic variety – everything is the same.
Should the Nation’s chicken population suffer a terrible disease epidemic it
will only be saved by backyard flocks because most of them are old breeds,
they have a great gene pool, and many of them would survive the disease –
but the factory-modified birds wouldn’t.
Because of these things
people across the nation are lobbying for the right to have chickens in
urban areas. They want eggs that are produced ethically by chickens that are
content and happy. They want eggs that are healthy and which have:
1.
1/3rd less cholesterol
2. ¼ less
saturated fat
3. 2/3
more vitamin A
4. 2 times
more omega-3 fatty acids
5. 3 times
more vitamin E
6. 7 times
more beta carotene
And finally, not only do
chickens provide us with good things, but they are social creatures that
enjoy being around people, enjoy being petted, and which provide endless
hours of entertainment as you watch them chase bugs, or another chicken that
has found a bug.
Chickens blend in to the
urban environment quite well and I would invite you to come to my home if
you would like to see just how well they do blend in. Thank you for your
time and for any help you might be willing to lend.
Sincerely,
Stephen Pilon
