Should Palm Coast allow backyard chickens?

The Palm Coast City Council is expected to consider a backyard chicken pilot program in August.

SIERRA WILLIAMS STAFF WRITER

Andrew Werner has been one of several frequent fliers at Palm Coast City Council meetings in recent months, speaking to convince the council to allow backyard chickens.

“There are some people who don’t like the idea of their neighbors having chickens in the backyard,” Werner said, “[but] people who want to do something on their property should have a heavier weight than people that don’t want you to do [it.]” change it to allow chickens or test out a pilot program.

The city considers chickens farm animals, which are not allowed in residential neighborhoods.

Palm Coast resident Nathan Phelps said there are 80 people in the Palm Coast Chicken Alliance, created in mid-April.

“This is a growing thing,” Phelps said. “There are a lot of people who want this, but they don’t have time to drive to [City Council meetings].”

Several council members said they can’t see chickens fitting into the Palm Coast community.

Council member Nick Klufas said he doesn’t think the council should immediately allow chickens without sample data.

“The way that Palm Coast exists nances from around the state, Code Enforcement Manager Barbara Grossman said.

“There are many benefits to having backyard chickens, as well as negative impacts,” Grossman said. Seven of the 10 ordinances allowed chickens, with the following requirements: The owner must have a permit to keep chickens in single-family residential areas; only four chickens are allowed per household, and roosters are banned; the owner must take an agriculture-and-manure class as part of the permit process; chickens must be for personal use only; and chickens must be contained in an enclosure and screened from neighboring properties.

On the positive side, Grossman said, owning backyard chickens is cost efficient, educational, encourages self-suficiency and a more active lifestyle, reduces pests and, of course, provides free eggs.

The major drawbacks, staff found, include attracting predators to residential areas, the potential for unsanitary conditions, and chickens going “rogue” in neighborhoods.

Klufas and council member Theresa Carli Pontieri both supported trying a pilot program, though Klufas said the program should have “rigorous” restrictions. Pontieri said reasonable regulations could address major nuisance and sanitation concerns. She had requested the presentation from city staff, and said she supported allowing backyard chickens with regulations similar to those used in other

“I’m an advocate of, if you own

City Councilman Ed Danko to run for County Commission

Palm Coast Vice Mayor Ed Danko has filed to run for the District 5 Flagler County Commission seat.

Starting June 22, 2023 at 10:00 AM

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JOSH FABEAN, Palm Coast resident your home and you’re not a nuisance or you’re not conducting anything illegal, that you should have great discretion as to what occurs in your home,” Pontieri said.

Grossman said that at the city level, backyard chickens would mostly impact Code Enforcement and Building and Zoning staff, for permits. She said city staff know some resident own chickens, regardless of the city’s code.

Josh Fabean, a Palm Coast resident and chicken proponent, said there are likely Palm Coast chicken owners no one knows about.

He said a strict pilot program could disincentivize interested people from participating.

“If you are creating a pilot program that makes the barrier to entry too high, why would someone participate in it?” Fabean said.

Council member Cathy Heighter and Vice Mayor Ed Danko both opposed changing the city code, saying they were concerned that chickens could become a nuisance.

Danko suggested interested residents form a community chicken garden instead of keeping chickens in yards.

Mayor David Alfin said he was the “chicken on the fence” on the issue, and that he hopes to reach out to residents like Werner, Fabean and Phelps to learn more.

He said he was especially interested in the potential educational aspect of owning chickens.

Alfin asked staff to bring the council a pilot program template to review and consider. That is expected to happen in August.

“We need better-paying jobs, and to get them we need to attract more business and industry to Flagler,” Danko said, according to a news release from his campaign. “To accomplish this, we need strong conservative American values, common sense, hard work, and honesty. Friends, I will always be that honest voice for Flagler.”

Danko is a Republican. The District 5 commission seat is held by Donald O’Brien, who is running for the District 19 House of Representatives seat rather than for reelection.

No other candidates have yet filed for the seat. But George Hanns, who held the District 5 County Commission seat for 24 years and was the county’s longest-serving commissioner, has announced his intention to run for the seat in 2024.

Danko said in the news release that he had pledged not to vote to raise residents’ taxes and had kept that pledge as a city councilman.

The news release also credited Danko with stopping the City Council from endorsing the County Commission’s proposed half-cent sales tax increase, and noted that he had brought up for a vote a proposal to hold an invocation at the beginning of council meetings. The council decided to extend its moment of silence rather than instituting an invocation; Danko said in his news release that in doing so, “The other council members turned their backs on God.”

Danko also said he had “put a halt to the city’s WOKE agenda survey questions” by requiring that the council approve survey questions before they’re released to the public. Danko had opposed a question that asked survey takers which gender they identify as.

“I will fight to keep this liberal brainwashing away from our children and out of Flagler County,” he said.

Danko is also the public relations director of the Flagler Republican Trump Assembly.