As reported in the Albany Times Union:
ALBANY -- Supporters of a plan to legalize the keeping of backyard chickens plan to make their case to the Common Council's Law Committee Tuesday evening.
The committee will convene at 5:30 p.m. on the second floor of City Hall to consider the ordinance proposed by Councilman Dominick Calsolaro, which would lift the nine-year-old ban on farm animals and fowl within city limits.
The push was started by Mansion Neighborhood residents Mike Guidice and Jen Pursley after a city code inspector in November ordered them to empty their backyard coup of eight hens, citing the 2001 ban.
Arguing that keeping a small number of backyard chickens can help contribute to food security and a more environmentally sustainable lifestyle, the couple have recruited scores of supporters to back the change.
Under the proposed law, which is modeled after other cities, only hens -- female chickens that, unlike roosters, do not crow -- would be allowed under a permitting system run by the city clerk and regulated by the Department of Building and Codes.
The existing ban was prompted by a noisy North Allen Street rooster and concerns about the sanitary and public health effects of having animals in such close quarters with humans.
But boosters of the change, who bill the move as part of a larger urban chicken-keeping movement, argue cities larger than Albany -- including Buffalo, Rochester, New York City and Portland, Ore. -- already allow residents to keep chickens.
Even if the committee approves, the ordinance would still need the approval of the full council at a later date.
Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Albany-lawmakers-to-hear-fowl-arguments-950570.php#ixzz1AlRB98hv
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