Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Chickens come before eggs in an ordinance revision making the animals more pets than livestock, and including a sunset clause should the birds become burdensome.
Wauwatosa has now joined the ranks of cities in which it is legal to own and keep chickens – for at least a year, anyway. On an 11-5 vote Tuesday night, the Common Council approved a long-debated ordinance amendment to allow residents to keep, in coops and runs, up to four hens per household. But one provision is that the measure will be revisited and could be rescinded if, after a first year of trial, it proves to be troublesome. How troublesome could a few chickens be? According to some council members, far more than any hoped-for fresh eggs. Worries ticked off by opponents include sanitation and health issues, noise, odors, the attraction of predators and vermin, a drain on the city's regulatory resources, a decline in general property …
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Blot on the city's escutcheon will at last be erased with approval of final plan for Burleigh Triangle, but another much-debated measure – the right to keep chickens – is a far less sure thing.
When the Wauwatosa Common Council convenes Tuesday night, two loooooong-discussed propositions will finally move forward – or, perhaps, again be stopped in their tracks. In one case, approval is such a foregone conclusion the vote is really but a necessary formality. The council's nod will at last launch HSA Commercial Real Estate in its redevelopment of the Burleigh Triangle, something the city has been striving for over many years. Former Roundy's distribution center warehouses north of Burleigh Street and west of Highway 45 will become The Mayfair Collection retail center, including a Nordstrom Rack, Sak's Off Fifth, ULTA and Dick's Sporting Goods stores, among others. Restaurants are also being recruited for the development but none …
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Citizens of each aldermanic district, beginning with No. 2, will get a chance to talk to their elected officials about issues in their neighborhoods.
Wauwatosa Mayor Kathy Ehley and the Common Council members representing each of Tosa's eight aldermanic districts will begin this week a series of informal Town Hall-style meetings to hear and discuss issues of interest or concern to citizens. The first meeting will be for District 2, where Ehley will be joined by Alds. Kathleen Causier and John Dubinski. It will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday at the Wauwatosa Woman's Club, 1626 Wauwatosa Ave. Among the issues on the agenda for discussion are: Citizens of the 2nd District are welcome to bring up other items for discussion. District 2 encompasses most of the Village east to North 68th Street; Hart Park and a few homes south of the Menomonee River; the northeast quadrant of the County …
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Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Yardbirds get six of eight votes in committee hearing as city attorney's office grants its blessing to hens – as pets more than as egg producers.
The city leaned farther toward approval of the keeping of chickens after another hearing Tuesday, when a solid majority of committee members, representing half the Common Council, gave their blessing to backyard birds. The Community Development Committee voted 6-2 in favor of an ordinance that would allow residents to husband up to four hens during a one-year trial period. City staff would monitor the permitting and enforcement process and the ability of any applicants to humanely keep their chickens during that first year, with the city reserving the authority to cut off the program or make it permanent based on the outcome. With six committee votes already tallied – assuming they won't change – only three more of the remaining eight …
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
An earlier discussion of urban chicken-keeping was nearly dismissed by city officials, but after looking into other cities' experiences, Wauwatosa is ready to draft an ordinance.
- GOVERNMENT
- Jim Price
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Wednesday, November 14, 2012
In May, when a small group of citizens persuaded the city to take up a discussion of permitting residential chicken-keeping, the idea got a decidedly cool reception. It was little wonder. Neither the citizens proposing nor the city staff assessing the concept really looked at the details of how other cities that allow chickens – and there are many, including Milwaukee – handle the situation. The proposal was tabled pending further research, and it came back Tuesday to the city's Community Development Committee to a much warmer welcome, though less than unanimous. After a presentation on successful chicken-keeping ordinances elsewhere, committee members voted 5-2 to direct City Attorney Alan Kesner to draft an ordinance for Common Council …
Thursday, May 10, 2012
City attorney's office report bashes the birds, and so do some aldermen, but the idea is sent back for review of other cities' ordinances.
Don't count your chickens any time soon. An introduction Tuesday night of the idea of allowing Wauwatosa residents to keep backyard hens for producing fresh eggs met with little support from city officials. A memo from Assistant City Attorney Eileen Miller Carter to Common Council members pretty well shot down urban chicken-keeping for now. Members of the Community Development Committee voted to table the discussion and bring it back in September. After ticking off 13 separate City Code sections "directly contrary to the keeping of chickens" in her memo, Carter wrote in conclusion: "Urban keeping of chickens is incompatible with many of the city's ordinances. To reverse the position on chickens would require a dismantling of a number of …
Betty Rubble
7:48 am on Monday, January 28, 2013
Great idea. They finally learned from the Meinecke sewer debacle that they need to inform and engage with their constituents. more ›