Neighbor Describes Chicken Noise as City Staff Ponders Municipal Code

posted: January 16th, 2012 09:50 am | 13Comments

Six Corona del Mar chickens have attracted the attention of the Newport Beach City Council, the local media and hundreds of supporters who have followed the saga about whether they are illegal pets — or whether the city will in the end change rules so they can stay in their Goldenrod home.

But others are beginning to speak out against the hens, including a woman who lives next door to them and has been videotaping their morning clucking and posting the results on YouTube.

“They are really noisy, and I sleep five feet away,” said Maggie McFarland. “They wake up early, and when they do they start squawking and laying.”

The hens’ owner, Michael Resk, has said the chickens give the neighborhood character. His home in the 300 block of Goldenrod Avenue is near the Goldenrod Footbridge, and regulars who walk that path are fans of the chickens he calls Tiny, Red, Flaty, Whitey, Blackie and Blondie.

Resk bought the chickens about a year and a half ago, but in December, someone reported them to Animal Control, and an officer told him that he had two weeks to get rid of the birds. Chickens are considered poultry under Newport Beach municipal code, and poultry and other livestock are banned in most parts of the city including Corona del Mar.

But a media blitz, along with more than 400 Facebook page “likes” for the birds and a letter-writing campaign to City Council members led Mayor Nancy Gardner this month to ask staff to review the issue. The topic will come up for discussion at a future Council meeting, likely in February. Meanwhile, the city has delayed issuing any citations related to the hens.

McFarland, who would not confirm she made the call to Animal Control, said she thinks it would be a mistake to allow chickens everywhere in the city.

“If they do that, I think they’d be nuts,” she said, adding that in many cities that allow chickens, laws specify how far they must be kept from other homes. (A review of chicken laws from throughout the country on the TheCityChicken.com website reveals requirements for distances from other homes, lot and coop size requirements and other restrictions.)

Newport Beach Planning Commissioner Michael Toerge, who is not in an official position to change the city’s rules on chickens, said he doesn’t think that laws should be changed to allow chickens.

“There are suitable places within an established community to house chickens and that location in Newport Beach is in the equestrian oriented Santa Ana Heights district where city policy allows chickens in the residential zone,” he said in an email. “But should we allow chickens in other locations throughout Newport Beach? I think not.”

Residents, he wrote, must compromise personal desires “in exchange for the benefits of living within a community.”

“If it is not acceptable for each and every household, it is probably not acceptable for any household,” he wrote. “Sorry, I think the chickens lose out on this one. If they don’t, Newport Beach will become the livestock laughing stock.”

McFarland agreed.

“It’s different if you just walk down the street than if you live right next door,” McFarland said. “I don’t mind chickens, but then it’s not so great they are right there.”

« »

13 Responses to “Neighbor Describes Chicken Noise as City Staff Ponders Municipal Code”

Comments

Leave a comment

Top News

CdM Today's Poll of the Week

CdMHS Pool Lot Reconfiguration to See Trial Run This Week

CdM Today Reader Comment of the Week

CdM Today's Top Five Stories This Week

Amy the Ranter

Two White Caps

All I Wanted Was a Salad from TJ's

Errands

Nice People

CDM Youth Sports

Harbor View 4th Grader Wins Masters Golf Tournament

Newport Lightning AAU Basketball Club To Host Tryouts on Sunday

Newport-Mesa All-Star Team: Best in the West

Newport-Mesa Tar Heels Win All-Net National Championship