By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
The controversial issue of backyard chickens has come home to roost again in Bowling Green.
As city officials work to update the zoning code, the topic has been revisited by the planning commission and city council.
The issue of backyard chickens caused some feathers to fly nearly a dozen years ago. When the dust settled, chickens weren’t allowed.
During a recent planning commission meeting, Chairperson Bob McOmber acknowledged that perhaps the issue of backyard chickens should be revisited. However, he suggested that it be dealt with as a separate matter since otherwise it could delay the adoption of the zoning update.
City Council agreed with the recommendation Monday evening, with the vote of 5-2 against dealing with the chicken issue while completing the zoning code update.
Voting in favor of cracking open the chicken issue now were council members Jeff Dennis and Rachel Phipps.
“Now is the time to have the discussion,” rather than adopting the new zoning code with the plan of possibly amending it later for backyard chickens, Dennis said.
Phipps also agreed that it would be good to have the discussions now, while city council has access to the zoning consultant working on the code update.
However, others on council – Mark Hollenbaugh, Bill Herald, Joel O’Dorisio, Greg Robinette and Nick Rubando – expressed concerns that the chicken discussion could slow down the whole zoning update process.
Hollenbaugh noted that he was on the planning commission’s subcommittee about chickens when the issue was first introduced. The topic scrambled up some strong feelings among Bowling Green residents, he recalled.
“We’ve done this already,” Robinette said. “There were a lot of heated discussions.”
Those discussions lasted about 10 months, Hollenbaugh said.
“I am not opposed to chickens. I think it’s maybe time we had chickens,” Hollenbaugh said.
But to undertake the issue now could delay the zoning update, he added.
Herald agreed the chicken issue could “bog down” the zoning process and take the focus off the overall zoning update.
It was agreed that council would revisit the backyard chicken topic at a later date.
