Medina Village Board doesn’t take action on request for backyard chickens

Photo by Tom Rivers: Cassandra Harden speaks during a public hearing on Monday. She asked the Village Board to pass an ordinance allowing backyard chickens.

MEDINA – The Village Board, after hearing residents speak for and against allowing backyard chickens in the village, decided on Monday evening to take no action on the issue.

Trustee Diana Baker made a motion to send the matter to the Village Planning Board for its input, but the motion didn’t get a second. One trustee, Jess Marciano, was late to the meeting and missed the vote due to jury duty in Buffalo. Marciano was disappointed the vote wasn’t pushed to later in the meeting when she could have offered a second to the motion.

Medina was asked to amend its ordinance, which currently bans chickens. Katie Hardner, who is leading the effort to have chickens be permitted in Orleans County villages, asked Medina to allow up to six backyard chickens, with no roosters.

Hardner and supporters of “For Cluck’s Sake” have attended parades and had a booth at the Orleans County 4-H Fair, trying to build support for the cause. Hardner said a small group of chickens are not livestock, and they provide nutritional and mental health benefits for families.

During the public hearing on Monday, she said chickens have great appeal to the younger generation of adults who want to raise some of their own food and enjoy caring for animals. She said allowing chickens would enhance properties in the village, and not be a deterrent to property values.

Three residents urged the board not to allow chickens, saying they are smelly and could bring in foxes, coyotes and other animals.

“The smell is nasty,” said resident Bob Prawel. “It is a nuisance. It can affect home values.”

Cheryl Tuttle also spoke against allowing chickens, saying they bring “an extreme odor” and could be a magnet for wild animals. She said they should be limited to outside the village in a country setting where there is more space away from neighbors who could be impacted.

Mark Gregoire of Murray runs a nuisance wildlife control business and he said he responds to many situations in Medina. The village already has foxes, coyotes, “anything on four legs.” Allowing six chickens for residents won’t draw animals to Medina that aren’t already in the village, he said. The spill over from bird feeders lures more unwanted creatures to the village than chickens would, he said.

Cassandra Harden, a village resident, said she would welcome the chance to have backyard chickens. She has two young children.

Todd Eick, Medina’s FFA advisor and agriculture teacher, urged Medina to allow the chickens. The FFA could help with workshops to educate the community on how to best care for chickens.

Many cities allow backyard chickens. Eick would like to see the Orleans County villages amend their ordinances to allow the poultry.

“We live in a rural community,” he said. “They are allowed in cities. They should be allowed here.”