There have been years of informal rumblings about problems with ordinances for people who want to keep chickens in residential areas in the Spokane area. The increasing popularity of backyard chickens and chicken coop tours has intensified the problem and it appears that the time may have arrived for residents to do something about it.
A resident of Spokane Valley has been put on notice because her property size does not meet the city's prohibitve requirement of having a very large lot in order to keep her chickens. She wrote a letter to the city council and they brought it up at their meeting last night and have referred it to the planning commission.
KREM news will run a story on the evening news tonight about the problems with the ordinance in the Valley and more broadly the problems with the County Ordinances, which don't allow chickens in residential neighborhoods at all, and the City of Spokane where the required distances of a coop from property lines and buildings are unreasonable.
I was interviewed for the story and it has spurred me to initiate some grassroots organizing to help with the effort of updating ordinances.
I've created a very for people to "Like" and be in the loop on development. You can also email me at the link to the write if you'd like to be added to an email list. Make sure to let me know if you're in the County, Valley, or City of Spokane.
I've spoken to folks at Aslin Finch and Purina and they have expressed interest in helping with the cause.
Go here for my series of posts on Backyard Chickens.
Stay tuned for more information in the coming months.
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
A Big shot that works for Spokane County Parks- _________ has chickens at his home.
Why can he and the rst of us can't?
Posted by: Joe | September 22, 2010 at 11:38 PM
Joe,
There are certain areas of the county that do have provisions for keeping chickens, but the way I read to the ordinances, most residential areas don't allow for it. I'm not sure of the situation of the person you mentioned but I do know a lot of people quietly keep chickens with their neighbors' agreement and hope for the best. This is one of the reasons it's difficult to get much movement on changing the law. The people who have chickens already just want to lay low and not raise a fuss lest they get "caught". I've removed the name of the individual you mention. I don't want to do any "outing" people who might potentially have problems because they keep chickens.
Posted by: craig | September 23, 2010 at 06:05 AM