More Johnson County residents can now keep this feathered pet in their backyards
The Overland Park City Council has agreed to permanently allow residents to keep chickens in the backyards of smaller, single-family homes.
The council on Monday voted 7-3 to approve an ordinance allowing hens on lots as small as 0.2 acres, with certain regulations. The city also is establishing a permit fee to raise chickens, which would be $100 for the first year and $50 to renew it.
The decision comes after a two-year pilot program, where the city tested out allowing homeowners to obtain permits to keep chickens on lots as small as a quarter-acre. Overland Park previously only allowed backyard chickens on lots that were 3 acres or larger.
A growing number of cities have allowed backyard chickens since the fad picked up more than a decade ago, including Kansas City, Lee’s Summit, Prairie Village, Roeland Park, Mission and several others. Proponents argue keeping chickens offers residents a healthier alternative to buying eggs in a grocery store. They contend that as long as coops are well-maintained and the fowl are taken care of, the birds can go almost unnoticed.
“This is an issue we’ve been working on this council for two or more years now. We went through an extensive pilot program with no complaints of any note,” Councilman Logan Heley said at Monday’s meeting. “The biggest thing for me is, are we getting complaints. And we are not getting complaints.”
Heley said the city ordinance is not “put in stone forever” and “if there’s modifications we need to make for health, safety, nuisance or otherwise,” the council can revisit it.
But some on the council weren’t convinced. Councilmen Jeff Cox, Paul Lyons and Fred Spears voted against the ordinance.
“I have consistently been opposed to chickens being raised in a dense, urban area like that exists around my house,” Lyons said. “I believe that chickens are farm animals that should be raised on a farm, and I don’t think they belong in an urban area in our city.”
He argued against allowing chickens on a lot smaller than a quarter-acre.
“Although I don’t think that my neighbor is interested in putting a chicken coop in his backyard, if someone were to purchase that house and put a chicken coop in it, it’s going to be sitting 30 or 40 feet from my bedroom window of my guest room,” he said. “And I think that is way too darn close. And I don’t think there’s any reason for someone to be raising chickens in that manner in my neighborhood.”
Backyard chicken ordinances differ by city.
Under Overland Park’s new rules, residents must obtain an annual “chicken permit” and go through a lengthy approval process to keep hens on smaller lots. The city ordinance says applicants must show that keeping chickens will not create a nuisance, that humane care will be provided and that the premises are suitable for the animals.
Regulations cover proper lighting, ventilation, noise, odor, coop size and more. Animal control will inspect properties seeking a permit.
Up to three hens would be allowed on smaller lots, while residents on a half-acre or full-acre lot could keep up to six. No roosters are allowed.
On Monday, council members clarified that homeowners associations, or HOAs, can still prohibit backyard chickens.
