Whether backyard hens should be allowed in Downers Grove was expected to be discussed during a Tuesday night village council meeting.
The Village Council met in a workshop meeting on Jan. 14. to discuss potential amendments to its municipal code that would allow more residents to keep chickens on their property than what is currently allowed in the code.
During the Jan. 14. meeting, the council provided the following direction:
- Regulations should be amended to be more permissive
- Owners/occupants of all or most single family detached houses should be eligible to keep hens
- Only hens will be permitted — all other fowl should be prohibited
Under the neighbor notification option, residents wishing to keep chickens would be required to notify neighboring properties prior to receiving a building permit, according to village documents.
Under the neighbor consent option, residents wishing to keep chickens would be required to seek and obtain the consent of their neighbors prior to receiving a permit to keep chickens.
Based on the village council's direction, Downers Grove staff will prepare an ordinance reflecting either the neighbor consent model or the neighbor notification model. The ordinance will be placed on a future first reading on the village council agenda, according to the Downers Grove staff memo/report.
Read the full memo/report prepared by Downers Grove staff on the backyard hens issue here.
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