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Prospect Heights, IL - While towns across the nation are increasingly embracing backyard chicken keeping, Prospect Heights may be backtracking. The city, which attracts families and homesteaders due to its history of unrestricted chicken keeping, hosted a public meeting in January, 2024 to discuss proposed changes to the city code, including banning roosters and limiting the number of hens residents may keep. The meeting was standing-room only due to overwhelming support for chicken keeping. More than 1,350 residents have signed a local petition requesting that ordinances remain the same.

It's rare for chicken keeping to cause a disturbance. In fact, in an October 2023 Zoning Board meeting, the town Director of Building and Development, Dan Peterson, noted that the city receives very few complaints about chickens per year, most of them easily resolved. Despite that, Peterson began the January meeting with a presentation on codes from other villages that restrict chickens, with the seemingly explicit omission of the many villages around Chicagoland (like the city of Chicago proper) that allow unrestricted chicken keeping. What followed were several hours of statements from residents who support chickens and want the city to enforce the current codes that protect against unusual nuisance situations. View the January meeting at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d90WMBdIA_M&feature=youtu.be.

Cities across the nation are seeing the benefits of backyard chickens, including their ability to provide social connections, educational opportunities, pest control, fertilizer, and, of course, sustainably produced eggs. Despite these clear wins, Prospect Heights appears to be giving in to myths and misconceptions. "It’s disappointing, to say the least, that current city employees are ignoring the needs and desires of residents, ignoring the few who have real issues, and are trying to create new regulations that will do more harm than good,” says resident Niki Moylan.

The changes may also create an animal welfare crisis, according to the Adopt a Bird Network. "Animal shelters and sanctuaries in these areas become overwhelmed and find it results in the unanticipated allocation of resources and funds towards the additional housing to accommodate these birds for prolonged periods of time. Animal control will get continuous calls regarding dumped roosters." 

Despite overwhelming community sentiment, the Planning and Zoning Board of Appeals is hosting a meeting at 7pm on June 26, 2024, at City Hall to propose their unprecedented changes to the town charter. See details and the agenda at www.prospect-heights.il.us. Residents are invited to voice their concerns to their local aldermen and the city mayor by calling the city at 847-398-6070.   

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