Marshfield Council resurrects chicken ordinance
For the Hub City Times
MARSHFIELD – Nearly a year after it was shot down for a second time, Marshfield aldermen will once again discuss a proposed ordinance allowing residents to raise chickens within city limits.
On July 27, the common council directed city staff to draft an ordinance that would allow for a certain number of chickens on residential property. Development Services Director Josh Miller told the council the city recently updated its zoning codes which make owning and raising chickens even more restricted than before.
Miller said:
Alderman Adam Fischer said it’s an issue he hears a lot about.
Fischer stated:
Alderman Mike Feirer, who voted in favor of the issue when it first came up over a decade ago, said he’s against the concept now. Feirer says he has seen other cities struggle with the concept, and Marshfield is just asking for problems.
Feirer added:
Alderman Tom Witzel said a chicken ordinance could be a way to make Marshfield more appealing to a younger generation.
Witzel said:
The proposed chicken ordinance has come up before. In 2010, the Sustainable Marshfield Committee presented a proposed ordinance that would have allowed Marshfield residents to have up to four chickens. The council rejected that ordinance in 2011 on a vote of 6-3. A request to place the item on a council agenda in March of 2019 was ultimately pulled. And when the issue was brought back in August of last year, the mayor asked for questions from the Council, and when there were none, the discussion ended.
Wausau, Stevens Point, and Wisconsin Rapids already have similar ordinances.