There were a number of possible options to take at the council meeting after the Harrisonburg Backyard Chicken Project presented its proposal Tuesday evening for allowing city residents to have egg-laying hens in their yards.  One option was to not move forward in exploring the issue at all, another could have been to actually adopt a new ordinance allowing chickens.  Of course, neither of those would have been the most prudent without further exploration.

The council voted unanimously to refer this issue to the Planning Commission for further review.  This will allow a number of things to happen: staff can prepare a presentation for Planning Commission on the related considerations they have in considering chickens being allowed, planning commissioners can make a recommendation to council and explore how such a change would relate to landuse and zoning ordinances, and everyone has the opportunity to find more answers to the questions around the issue.  If council moves to vote on allowing or denying chickens, there will be a full public hearing at a council meeting. 

For me, this is a prudent move to allow staff and planning commissioners to give their input and to continue asking and answering related questions.  I am still undecided about the issue and look forward the results of this referral.  Thanks to everyone for your input - even the person that showed up to the council meeting dressed in a full-body chicken suit!