** Please include your Belleville address in the comments section**
Dear Belleville City Council: We, residents of Belleville, would like you to change the City by-law to allow residents to keep a limited number of hens (no roosters) in their backyards within City limits. Keeping hens would enable residents to provide a nutritious, delicious, safe, and environmentally friendly eggs for their families, while at the same time teaching our children where food comes from, and what it is worth.
Dr. David Waltner-Toews, veterinarian, epidemiologist, and professor at the University of Guelph, has written that he knows of “no evidence linking human illness with keeping small urban flocks.” Further, he believes that “if we do not make room for these urban entrepreneurs, we risk losing a set of very important food-rearing skills that will enable us to better navigate the economic, climatic and environmental instability our society will face in the coming decades.”
Backyard hens have always been allowed in many major US cities, including New York, Seattle, and Portland, with Canadian cities such as Vancouver, Victoria and Guelph now catching up. Please let us, the residents of Belleville, join millions of other city dwellers in North America who are allowed to provide eggs for our families by keeping a few hens in the backyard.
In order to accommodate concerns regarding the size, cleanliness, and cost related to urban chicken-keeping, any revised legislation could include:
1. Limitation on the size and nature of flocks Many cities have limited the number of hens permitted to ten or less, and banned the keeping of roosters within City limits. This addresses public concern around any potential health risks or noise associated with backyard chicken-keeping.
2. Confinement Requirements Many cities have included confinement requirements, regarding the size and design of coops to house backyard chickens.
3. Distance Requirements Other cities, such as Guelph, ON and Vancouver B.C, have included minimum distances that must be maintained between the coop and adjacent property lines.
4. Permitting Those who wish to keep backyard chickens may apply for a permit, which may be granted or revoked based on the owners compliance with all applicable City bylaws and regulations.
Changes to Belleville's zoning to allow the maintenance of a small number of backyard chickens would contribute to the sustainability and health of our community and region, the reduction of our community's carbon footprint and the provision of a healthy local food supply. Belleville could join other major urban centers, providing leadership in creating greener, more sustainable urban environments for current and future generations. Thank you.
LINKSUpdates
April 7, 2016
My own kids keep asking when they can finally help build a coop in our garden instead of just looking at pictures of flocks in other cities. I have been spending my evenings drafting detailed proposals about cleanliness and coop regulations to prove to the council that we can do this responsibly.
April 7, 2016
Seeing this kind of momentum confirms that I am not the only one in Belleville who wants to teach my children the value of raising their own food. I am genuinely moved by the support for my yard and yours.
Reached 100 supporters
April 7, 2016
62 Comments
Selena Ave in Belleville We should be moving to alternative methods of feeding our families. Industrial farming has proven to be a hazard to our environment. With strong regulations this would be a great way to move to a safer more sustainable future.
Since neighboring cities(Kingston, South Frontenac) allow it there is little to no reason why Belleville could not adapt
There are some people who have more than one pet (cats dogs) and make more of a mess than raising chickens or any other fowl and they are not as noisy as dogs ,so why not allow people to raise them.
my son is very sensitive to foods, so having our own chickens for eggs would be wonderful. We like to know where our food comes from.
Please consider changing Belleville's bylaw to allow backyard chickens. My family consumes approximately 6 dozen eggs per week. To be able to produce these ourselves would save a considerable amount of money and food miles.
John st, Belleville
no rason families can't raise their own chickens for eggs, and meat since the grocery stores are an absolute rip off and unaffordable for most families
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** Please include your Belleville address in the comments section**
Dear Belleville City Council: We, residents of Belleville, would like you to change the City by-law to allow residents to keep a limited number of hens (no roosters) in their backyards within City limits. Keeping hens would enable residents to provide a nutritious, delicious, safe, and environmentally friendly eggs for their families, while at the same time teaching our children where food comes from, and what it is worth.
Dr. David Waltner-Toews, veterinarian, epidemiologist, and professor at the University of Guelph, has written that he knows of “no evidence linking human illness with keeping small urban flocks.” Further, he believes that “if we do not make room for these urban entrepreneurs, we risk losing a set of very important food-rearing skills that will enable us to better navigate the economic, climatic and environmental instability our society will face in the coming decades.”
Backyard hens have always been allowed in many major US cities, including New York, Seattle, and Portland, with Canadian cities such as Vancouver, Victoria and Guelph now catching up. Please let us, the residents of Belleville, join millions of other city dwellers in North America who are allowed to provide eggs for our families by keeping a few hens in the backyard.
In order to accommodate concerns regarding the size, cleanliness, and cost related to urban chicken-keeping, any revised legislation could include:
1. Limitation on the size and nature of flocks Many cities have limited the number of hens permitted to ten or less, and banned the keeping of roosters within City limits. This addresses public concern around any potential health risks or noise associated with backyard chicken-keeping.
2. Confinement Requirements Many cities have included confinement requirements, regarding the size and design of coops to house backyard chickens.
3. Distance Requirements Other cities, such as Guelph, ON and Vancouver B.C, have included minimum distances that must be maintained between the coop and adjacent property lines.
4. Permitting Those who wish to keep backyard chickens may apply for a permit, which may be granted or revoked based on the owners compliance with all applicable City bylaws and regulations.
Changes to Belleville's zoning to allow the maintenance of a small number of backyard chickens would contribute to the sustainability and health of our community and region, the reduction of our community's carbon footprint and the provision of a healthy local food supply. Belleville could join other major urban centers, providing leadership in creating greener, more sustainable urban environments for current and future generations. Thank you.
LINKSUpdates
April 7, 2016
My own kids keep asking when they can finally help build a coop in our garden instead of just looking at pictures of flocks in other cities. I have been spending my evenings drafting detailed proposals about cleanliness and coop regulations to prove to the council that we can do this responsibly.
April 7, 2016
Seeing this kind of momentum confirms that I am not the only one in Belleville who wants to teach my children the value of raising their own food. I am genuinely moved by the support for my yard and yours.
Reached 100 supporters
April 7, 2016
62 Comments
I live in Belleville (K8P2R3) and feel that there would be many benefits to allowing families to keep laying hens in their yards. Urban farming is the way of the future!
Selena Ave in Belleville We should be moving to alternative methods of feeding our families. Industrial farming has proven to be a hazard to our environment. With strong regulations this would be a great way to move to a safer more sustainable future.
Since neighboring cities(Kingston, South Frontenac) allow it there is little to no reason why Belleville could not adapt
There are some people who have more than one pet (cats dogs) and make more of a mess than raising chickens or any other fowl and they are not as noisy as dogs ,so why not allow people to raise them.
my son is very sensitive to foods, so having our own chickens for eggs would be wonderful. We like to know where our food comes from.
Please consider changing Belleville's bylaw to allow backyard chickens. My family consumes approximately 6 dozen eggs per week. To be able to produce these ourselves would save a considerable amount of money and food miles.
John st, Belleville
no rason families can't raise their own chickens for eggs, and meat since the grocery stores are an absolute rip off and unaffordable for most families
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I live in Belleville (K8P2R3) and feel that there would be many benefits to allowing families to keep laying hens in their yards. Urban farming is the way of the future!