Greenwood resident Kimberlie Board is one of the residents behind a petition to get the city to change its animal ordinance to allow chickens.
Submitted photo
A group of Greenwood residents wants the city to reconsider its ban on backyard chickens.
For several years, the Greenwood City Code has outlawed residents from keeping poultry and livestock, except on properties zoned and operated as agricultural operations or suburban fringe “under other applicable laws.” Those found to violate this ordinance face a $50 initial fine, with all subsequent violations in a 12-month period subject to a fine of not less than $100 per violation.
A petition by resident Kimberlie Board seeks to change that, however, and asks the city council to consider changing the ordinance to allow backyard chickens in light of other cities changing course on the issue.
“I just felt (the petition) would help encourage Greenwood to follow suit,” Board said.
So far, the petition has received over 810 signatures, with Board expecting more signatures to be added in the coming days. It is also part of a larger trend of residents who say they want to have backyard chickens in recent months.
For the last several months, the Whiteland Town Council has been debating changing town rules regarding chickens. A vote in May moved proposed changes forward, though the debate is expected to last for months.
On Wednesday, Board, co-organizer Ellen Hurd and supporter James Sceniak, who is running for Greenwood City Council At-Large as a Libertarian, are expected to present the petition to the city council. They also plan to give council members information about the benefits of chickens, common misconceptions and other communities’ rules governing chickens.
Board, who is familiar with taking care of and being around chickens, was inspired to do the petition based on her own beliefs about the benefits of having backyard chickens and knowing where her food is coming from. She only buys pasture-raised eggs, and for her, knowing how her food is raised is important.
Hurd, a 22-year Greenwood resident, had been independently thinking about reaching out to the city council about changing the ordinance when she saw Board’s petition. The two then joined forces on the issue.
Hurd doesn’t want the government to tell her what she can and cannot do with her property and this includes owning chickens, she said.
“Two streets away from me is Indianapolis, and they can have 12 hens and a rooster,” Hurd said. “So two roads (away), I am told I can’t have anything.”
As part of the petition drive, Board has visited the Greenwood Farmer’s Market and other city events to get signatures. So far she has received positive feedback, though there are a few who are opposed to it, she said.
She has also reached out the Johnson County Animal Control about whether there were a large number of complaints about backyard chickens. In the last year, there have been fewer than 12, she said.
Sceniak is in favor of allowing backyard chickens in the city as a matter of personal choice, and has been helping Board and Hurd with the petition. He had six chickens when he lived in northern Indiana and shared eggs with his neighbors, he said.
“I had plenty of eggs to share with neighbors. It was a great way to build community,” Sceniak said. “I’ve seen community gardens work in a similar way where people come together around food, and that’s part of our culture. I believe that Greenwood would benefit as both a cultural aspect and a neighbor aspect.”
Both Sceniak and Hurd say that backyard chickens can help with food security — something that not everyone in the city has. Hurd helps fill blessing boxes around the area, and sees chickens as a way to help those struggling to feed their families.
“A lot of people are struggling to make ends meet,” Hurd said. “If you can put food in one of these blessings (boxes), and then maybe even put a little flyer, ‘If you need eggs, contact so-and-so,’ we can give them to him for free.”
Board and Hurd understand that some people may not want roosters next door, but people don’t have to have roosters to have eggs. Hurd says there are a lot of misconceptions about chickens, which is why people can get upset.
There are many ways to take care of chickens and ensure their health, just like dogs and other pets, Board said. Sometimes when someone brings up chickens, people think of a dirty, diseased bird. But this is not true, she said.
“They are sweet and gentle. They’re pets, they’re therapy animals,” she said. “… You can hold them and you’ll love them like a pet.”
Along with producing eggs, chickens can also eat a lot of bugs, including ticks. By eating the ticks, it can prevent humans from becoming sick, Hurd said.
She also cited advertising from the government in the early 20th century that encouraged citizens to have chickens at home. The U.S. Department of Agriculture asked citizens to have two hens in the backyard for each person in the house to have fresh eggs.
If someone lives in a homeowners association area, the HOA will likely regulate having chickens. But for those who live two streets away from Indianapolis, crossing the county line is the difference between them being legal and illegal, Sceniak said.
“Why are we having this borderline where all of a sudden chickens are illegal and it just doesn’t make sense,” he said.
There are a number of cities that already allow backyard chickens, including Brownsburg, Carmel, Indianapolis, Shelbyville, Valparaiso and Zionsville. Noblesville officials, like those in Whiteland, are currently debating allowing backyard chickens as well, they said.
The petition organizers hope the Greenwood City Council seriously considers the petition and addresses it before the November election. Sceniak is planning to include chickens as part of his campaign platform, he said.
“I think it’s important for Greenwood to hear it,” he said. “I’ll obviously be up for election in November, but I hope that they’ll at least give it a fair hearing before that point.”
LEARN MORE
To learn more about Kimberlie Board’s petition to ask the Greenwood City Council to allow backyard chickens, go to change.org/p/allow-backyard-chickens-in-greenwood-indiana.
Residents can also sign the petition at the above link.
