Arlington Heights rejects backyard chicken coops

Backyard chicken coops may be growing in popularity throughout Chicago’s suburbs, but they won’t be in Arlington Heights.

The Village Board this week rejected a variance request by a resident looking to raise three hens in his backyard, setting a precedent that effectively bans the coops.

Matt Scallon and his wife, Teri, wanted to raise the three chickens as pets and as a source for fresh eggs. Scallon intended to build a predator-proof wire coop with roosting boxes and a run for the chickens in the middle of his backyard, at least 14 feet away from neighbors.

But some of Scallon’s neighbors were not thrilled about the idea, and neither was the board.

Trustees were concerned the coop would attract wild animals, the chicken’s feces would produce disease and their clucking would be too noisy.

Trustee Joseph Farwell went so far as to download the clucking noises and play them so he could get an idea of what it might sound like for Scallon’s neighbors — and he didn’t like it.

The board was also presented with a petition signed by 35 people living in the village who did not want Scallon to have the chickens.

Denise and Tony Garappolo, whose property butts up against Scallon’s, sent a letter to the board, saying they are strongly against the chicken coop.

“It’s a cute idea as long as it’s not next door to me,” the Garappolos wrote in the letter read by Mayor Arlene Mulder.

The smell of chicken feces were the Garappolos’ largest concern, echoed by the Village board. Trustee Thomas Glasgow, whose mother’s family was chicken farmers, was worried that the feces could carry histoplasmosis and spread it airborne to Scallon’s neighbors and to children at Our Lady of the Wayside Elementary School or nearby South Middle School.

But Scallon said he would clean the cage twice a week, preventing odor and disease.

His statement was backed by a letter from Peter Sakas, a veterinarian with the Niles Animal Hospital and Bird Medical Center, and urban chicken consultant Jennifer Murtoff, who helps people set up backyard chicken coops.

“When you have three birds in a backyard coop and you have someone who is continually cleaning out the coop, removing any waste matter, you’re not going to have any odors,” she said.

Murtoff said backyard chicken-raising has worked successfully in various suburbs, including Oak Park, Naperville, Evanston, Cary and Lombard, as well as in Chicago.

Predators were also a concern, and though Scallon said his cage would be predator-proof because of steel wiring, trustees were not convinced.

“There is no vermin-proof chicken coop, there just isn’t,” Glasgow said.

Because there are no other backyard chicken coops in Arlington Heights that village staff knew about, trustees were worried that by allowing Scallon’s variance they would open the door to allowing other backyard coops.

Two trustees — Michael Sidor and Carol Blackwood — said they have no problem with Scallon’s coop and both voted to allow him to raise the chickens. The rest of the board voted to deny him.

Scallon said he would move on to something else following the rejection.

Found Here: http://triblocal.com/arlington-heights/2012/02/22/arlington-heights-rejects-backyard-chicken-coops/