Chickens soar over first hurdle to live in village

Fresh eggs from as many as four new pets are a few details and an ordinance approval away from being allowed in the Village of Belgium.

The Public Safety Committee last week unanimously recommended allowing residents to have chickens, albeit with a few stipulations.

The issue of notifying neighbors garnered some discussion. Village Clerk Vickie Boehnlein said the ordinance should make it clear that notifying is not asking for permission.

“Based on the listening session, I expect that there may be resistance to that in our ordinance by some of the board.

Rosie (Geib) expressed concern that it would be creating a neighbor-against-neighbor situation.”

Committee Chairman Rose Sauers said, “neighbors would have a mechanism through ordinance if the ordinance is not being followed, if the chickens are coming onto their property or if there are noise concerns.”

Boehnlein hatched an idea to solve the problem.

“We could put on our website, when we have the page for chickens — I’m sure we’ll create a chicken page — we could have a board where we list the properties that have taken out a permit. Then anybody can look it up and see, have any of my neighbors gotten chickens? You don’t list the name, you list the address,” she said.

“Or if you give your neighbors eggs once in a while,” committee member Sarah Heisler said, “it probably can just work it out.”

The committee developed some of its ideas from chicken ordinances in Cedar Grove, Cedarburg, Mequon and Campbellsport.

The committee recommended a $30 license fee for the first year with a $10 renewal; chicken coops be at least 25 feet from other structures; not allowing heat lamps in the coop; no roosters; no selling of eggs; to notify neighbors in addition to the web page; and that properties must be inspected by the village marshal each year.

That last one caused committee member Sarah Heisler to pose a question to Belgium’s Village Marshal Leon Anzia.

“Leon, are you OK checking on chickens? You’re not scared of birds or anything, right?”

“No,” Anzia said.

“Well,” Heisler said, “some people are actually freaked out by birds.”

The deadline for chicken permits was suggested to be June 1 to prevent Anzia from having to trudge through snow.

Butchering was another issue.

Anzia said people hang deer in their garages during deer season. The committee didn’t develop a recommendation on slaughtering.

Megan Phillips, who started a change.org petition to allow chickens in the village, also suggested establishing a setback requirement for the chicken runs in addition to the coops.

The Village Board could take up the issue at its next meeting on Monday, July 14.